


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 





UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 



THEOLOGY 



OLD TESTAMENT 



BY 



CH. PIEPENBRING 

Pastor, and President of the Reformed Consistory 
at Strassburg 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, BY PERMISSION OF 

THE AUTHOR, WITH ADDED REFERENCES 

FOR ENGLISH READERS 

BY 

H. G. MITCHELL 

Professor in Boston University 




NEW YORK : 46 East 14th Street 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY 

BOSTON: 100 Purchase Street 



\ 



1&* 






Copyright, 1893, 
By T. Y. CROWELL & CO. 



Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co. 
Pr^oTkbTs. J- Parkhill & Co. 



TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 



The book of which this is a translation made its appear- 
ance in 1886. It seems to have at first attracted little 
attention even in Europe, owing probably to the fact that 
it was written in French and published in Paris. Schultz, 
who mentions a smaller work by Kayser of the same date, 
had evidently overlooked this one, when, in 1888, he issued 
the last edition of his Theologie. The book was first 
brought to the notice of Americans by the Presbyterian 
Quarterly, in 1888. The review of it then published was 
very favorable. In fact, the reviewer said of it: "On the 
whole, we regard it as the best Theology of the Old Testa- 
ment that has yet been published." 

In view of this estimate it seems strange that a transla- 
tion was not at once undertaken. Perhaps the interest in 
Biblical Theology did not then warrant such an undertak- 
ing; or, perhaps, those who would naturally have encour- 
aged it shared a wide-spread prejudice, according to which 
"no good thing" in theology can come from France. It 
must have been a trace of this prejudice that prevented me 
from becoming acquainted with the book. At any rate, I 
did not read it, until a year ago, and when I finally look it 
in hand I did not expect much from its perusal. J was 

iii 



IV TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. 

therefore surprised to find that, though I could not accept 
all its statements, it grew upon me from the beginning. 
I was pleased with the style, its clearness and simplicity ; 
but what especially attracted me was a frankness and fear- 
lessness, the evident outgrowth of the faith of a sincere 
Christian. These characteristics are most apparent in the 
Conclusion, which, by the way, the reader will do well to 
read next, thus making it also a sort of introduction. This 
Conclusion so completely won my confidence, that, when I 
had read it, I immediately wrote to M. Piepenbring, asking 
him, if he had not already made other arrangements, to let 
me put the book into English. He readily assented, and I 
at once went to work upon the translation, convinced that 
a book written in such a spirit, even if it sometimes yielded 
more than was necessary, could not but further the cause 
of religion. I trust that many will find it very helpful 
in their attempts to adjust themselves to any new ideas that 
they may feel obliged to adopt. 

The reader will doubtless be interested to know something 
personal about the author, although his biography sounds 
strangely (for a European's) like that of an American 
clergyman. He is a native of Alsace, having been born in 
Mittelbergheim, of that (formerly Erench, now German) 
province, in 1840. There he grew to manhood, receiving 
only the rudiments of an education at the schools of his 
native village. When he became a man, having chosen an 
industrial career, he went to Paris to seek his fortune. In 
that city he fortunately found himself surrounded by Chris- 
tian influences, the result of which was the conviction 



TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. V 

that he was called to the ministry. In obedience to this 
call he abandoned his former employment, and entered a 
preparatory school in Paris-Batignolles. There he took 
a degree in Arts, and thence he went to Strassburg to take 
a theological course. At the university he came in contact 
with several distinguished theologians, but the one who 
seems to have exerted most influence over him was the 
venerable critic Reuss, to whose works, as will be noticed, 
he constantly refers. 

In 1871, when he was thirty-one years of age (late for a 
European), M. Piepenbring received the degree of Bachelor 
of Divinity, and left the University to become pastor of a 
small parish at Fonday, near Waldersbach, also in Alsace. 
Here he remained eight years, at the end of which period 
he was called to the position of French pastor of the Re- 
formed parish in Strassburg. This position he still holds, 
as well as that of President of the Consistory to which he 
belongs. 

Though actively engaged in the duties of a Christian 
minister, M. Piepenbring has found time to do no little liter- 
ary work. He is a regular contributor to several periodi- 
cals. For the Revue de V Ilistoire des Religions (Paris), 
he has written a series of articles, chapters from a forth- 
coming History of Israel. He also has a Theology of the 
New Testament in preparation. 

A word, in conclusion, respecting the translation. I have 
endeavored to confine myself to the functions of an inter- 
preter. Now and then, however, I have been obliged to 
make slight changes or additions in order to adapt the book 



VI TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. 

to the needs or requirements of its new readers. Thus, in 
the notes, while, wherever a book cited was translated, I 
have simply given the English title with the corresponding 
page, etc., wherever there are references to books not yet 
translated, and only such, I have added references to Eng- 
lish authorities such as I thought the author would naturally 
quote in the given cases. 

The original has no indexes. I have prepared for the 
translation four, one of which contains all the passages 
cited in the text of the book. It did not seem worth while 
to include those in the notes. 

Perhaps I ought to add for the benefit of any who may 
not be familiar with Hebrew, that in the Hebrew words 
that occur, the consonants are to be given their usual 
sounds, except in the following cases : bh is to be pronounced 
like v, dh like th in this, kh like the German ch, s like a 
sharp s, and q not unlike aft. 1 The vowels should be pro- 
nounced after what is called the Continental method. 

1 In transliterating these words I have not followed the scheme of 
the author, but (substantially) the more common one of Gesenius' 
Hebrew Grammar. 



AUTHOB'S PEEFACE. 



We do not think that this publication needs a prolix 
justification. There are only two works in French that 
treat of this subject: the first part of Haag's Theologie 
Biblique and Oehler's Theologie de VAncien Testament, 
translated from the German by M. de Eougemont. But 
though these works both contain excellent features, they 
both also present lacunce. They can be criticised especially 
as not showing, as completely and yet as succinctly as pos- 
sible, the development of the religious thought and life of 
Israel, using the learned works of Germany as we intend 
to do. May this book contribute in some measure to a 
better knowledge of biblical truth in the churches that use 
the French language. 

We must not forget to thank in this public manner Pro- 
fessor Kayser for the valuable hints which he has kindly 
given us, and of which we Have made great use in the final 
elaboration of this work. 1 

1 Since these lines were written Professor Kayser has been removed 
by death from the affectionate circle of his friends. 

vii 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface iii 

Introduction 1 

I. Method and plan ... 1 

II. Literature 3 

FIRST PERIOD. 

§ 1. Mosaism 7 

§2. Ancient Prophetism and the Art op Divination 11 

§ 3. The Idea op God 21 

§ 4. The Covenant of Jehovah with Israel 29 

§ 5. Ethical Life 34 

§ 6. Worship 39 

I. Places of worship 39 

II. The priesthood 43 

III. Religious festivals 47 

1. The Sabbath 47 

2. The new moon 48 

3. The three pilgrim feasts 49 

a. The feast of passover, and of unleavened bread 50 

b. The feast of the harvest 54 

c. The feast of tabernacles 55 

IV. Religious rites 57 

1. Circumcision 57 

2 . Sacrifices 59 

3. The offering of the first-born, first-fruits, and tithes 63 

4. Prayer 05 

5. Vows 0(5 

0. The anathema (57 

7. The nazirate G8 

8. Fasting 71 

9. Purifications and Levilical purity 73 

ix 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



SECOND PERIOD. 

PAGE 

§ 7. Prophetism ix its Purity 81 

§ 8. Unity and Spirituality of God 91 

I. Unity of God 92 

II. Spirituality of God 96 

§ 9. Names and Attributes of God 99 

I. Names of God 99 

1. Jehovah 99 

2. Jehovah, God of hosts 103 

3. The Holy One of Israel 106 

4. God, the Strong One, tiie Mighty One, the Most- 

High, the Lord Ill 

II. Attributes of God 114 

1. Moral attributes 114 

2. Metaphysical attributes 120 

§10. Creation 124 

§ 11. Providence 129 

§12. The Manifestation of God in the Would 137 

I. The glory, the name, the face, the malakh of God . . . 138 

1. The glory of God 138 

2. The name of God 141 

3. The face of God , 143 

4. The malakh of God 144 

II. Cherubim and Seraphim 147 

1 . Cherubim 147 

2. Seraphim 150 

III. Angels. 153 

IV. The spirit of God 156 

§ 13. The Nature of Man 159 

§ 14. The Dignity of Man 167 

§ 15. Faithfulness to Jehovah 173 

§ 16. Worship 178 

§17. Israel's Unfaithfulness and the Essence of Sin.... 185 

§ 18. The Extent of Six 189 

§ 19. The Orioix of Six 192 

§ 20. The Guilt of Six 197 

S 21. The Day of Judgment 201 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI 

PAGE 

§ 22. Salvation 207 

I. The restoration of Israel under the new covenant .... 207 

II. The participation of the gentiles in the new covenant. 212 

§ 23. The Messiah 217 

§ 24. The Servant of Jehovah 225 

§ 25. Retribution and Theodicy '. „ ... 233 

THIRD PERIOD. 

§ 26. Holy Scripture 241 

§ 27. The Doctrine of God 247 

§ 28. Angelologv 253 

§ 29. Demonology 256 

§ 30. Death and the Future Life , . „ 263 

§ 31. Levitism 276 

I. The sanctuary 280 

II. The priesthood 285 

III. Religious festivals 292 

1. The sabbath 292 

2. The sabbatical year 296 

3. The year of jubilee 298 

4. The new moon 299 

5. The pilgrim feasts 300 

0. The day of atonement 304 

7. The feast of purim 306 

IV. Religious rites .' 307 

§ 32. Forgiveness and Atonement 309 

§33. Ethical Life 316 

I. Pharisaism 316 

II. Exclusivism 320 

III. Skepticism 323 

IV. Wisdom 325 

§34. Tin. Apocalypse ok Daniei 331 

( mm i.i sion 343 

Indexes 361 



INTRODUCTION. 



I. METHOD AND PLAN. 

We shall follow the exegetical and historical method. 
It does not need to be vindicated. All modern theo- 
logians worthy of the name recognize its excellence. 
The dogmatic method, hitherto generally followed, is 
more and more neglected even by conservative theo- 
logians. 

The majority of the works that treat our subject 
are divided into two principal parts : the first gives 
a resumS, more or less complete, of the history of the 
religion of Israel in general ; the second discusses the 
religious ideas and practices, without taking account 
of their successive development. Other works present 
only a detailed historical discussion, divided into a large 
number of periods. The disadvantage of this last 
method is that it sacrifices the total effect to the de- 
tails, necessitates numerous repetitions, and does not 
show the historical connection of the various topics 
treated. The other method is faulty in presenting only 
the history of the religion of Israel in general, and 
neglecting the historical development demonstrable in 
matters of detail. It will be best, we think, to leave to 
works that narrate the history of Israel the task of giv- 
ing a general view of their religion, and confine our- 

1 



Z THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

selves to showing, as far as possible, the historical 
development of each particular topic. 

A number of works, that of Oehler, for example, 
confine themselves exclusively to the teaching of the 
canonical books. Others, like those of cle Wette and 
von Colin, include, in the theology of the Old Testa- 
ment, the religious ideas that are found among the Jews 
at the beginning of the Christian era. As for us, we 
shall not confine ourselves to the canonical books alone ; 
we shall take into consideration the principal apocryphal 
books, but only so far as the teaching that they contain 
is found to develop or supplement that of the canonical 
literature. We do not think it necessary to go further 
and discuss the Jewish theology of the time of Jesus 
and the apostles, since this subject has been treated, and 
well treated, by two French scholars, — MM. Nicolas and 
Stapfer. 

We shall divide our work into three periods. The 
first, from Moses to the beginning of the eighth century, 
is distinguished by the preponderating influence exer- 
cised by traditional ideas and usages, modified only in 
part by early prophecy. The second, from the appear- 
ance of the oldest prophetical books to the end of the 
Exile, is marked by the great influence of prophecy, now 
at its apogee. The third, from the Exile to the first 
century before the Christian era, is characterized by the 
extraordinary influence of the written law and the 
priesthood. 

We shall not, in every period, treat all the questions 
to which the documents bearing on it refer. This would 
be a decidedly mechanical process that would necessitate 
numerous repetitions. We shall treat, as far as possible, 



INTRODUCTION. 6 

in each period, questions that, for the time being, are 
most prominent, and refer to the same questions in the 
other periods only when they are presented in a new 
light. 

II. LITERATURE, 

A historical discussion of the religion of Israel pre- 
supposes a knowledge of the literature of this people, 
and exact notions concerning the dates of the various 
documents belonging to this literature. We are of 
course not able here to enter into a discussion of the 
numerous and complicated problems that are treated in 
works on introduction to the Old Testament ; we must 
confine ourselves to giving the results that appear to 
us certain or probable, referring the reader to special 
treatises for details. 

The literature^ of the first period is the following : 
The oldest porfion of the Pentateuch and the book 
of Joshua, which we shall call document A, the residue 
after removing the Deuteronomic portion and the 
Elohistic or Priestly document, of which more here- 
after ; the book of Judges, the books of Samuel, and 
the first ten chapters of 1 Kings, with the exception 
of the additions made by the last editor of these books ; 
finally, the Song of Songs. 

To the second period belong nearly all the prophetical 
books, in the following order : — 

End of the ninth century or beginning of the eighth : 
Isa. xv. 1-xvi. 12. First half of the eighth century: 
Amos, Hosea, and perhaps Zech. ix.-xi. Second half 
of the eighth century: Isa. i.-xii.; xiv. 24--)'2 ; chaps. 
xvii.-xx.; xxi. 11-xxiii. 18; chaps, xxviii.-xxxiii. ; 



4 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

xxxvii. 21-35 ; xxxviii. 9-20 ; Micah, and perhaps 
Nahum. Second half of the seventh century : Jeremiah, 
with the exception of the last three chapters ; Zepha- 
niah, Habakkuk and perhaps Zech. xii.-xiv. Begin- 
ning of the sixth century and of the Exile : Ezekiel 
and Lamentations. Middle of the sixth century and 
toward the end of the Exile: Jer. l.-lii.; Isa. xiii. 
1-xiv. 23; xxi. 1-10; chaps, xxiv.-xxvii. ; chaps, 
xxxiv. f . ; chaps, xl.-lxvi. (deutero-Isaiah). 

To this period also probably belongs the book of Job, 
although it is difficult to say at just what date it was 
written. 

In 622 was discovered in the temple at Jerusalem the 
legislation of Deuteronomy. Nearly all of this book 
and some fragments of the book of Joshua seem to be 
the work of the same hand or at least of the same epoch. 
We shall call this portion of the Pentateuch and the 
book of Joshua document B. 

It was at the end of this period when a single editor 
put the books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings into their 
final form. Many portions of these books bear clear 
marks of the last redaction. The contents of the 
books of Kings, and those of the other historical books 
above mentioned, were, in great part, based on earlier 
written sources. 

To this period also we refer the book of Ruth. 

At the beginning of the third period stand the book 
of Haggai, written 520, and Zech. i.-viii., written be- 
tween 520 and 518. It may be that Joel and Obadiah 
also date from this epoch, although the majority of 
critics regard the former as the oldest of the propheti- 
cal books, and some likewise consider the latter very 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

ancient. Malachi was written toward 440, and Jonah 
in the fifth or even in the fourth century. 

In the fifth century occurred also the redaction of the 
most recent portions of the Pentateuch and the book of 
Joshua, usually styled the Elohistic document, which w r e 
shall call document C. The oldest portion of it is the 
section Lev. xvii.-xxvi., which was probably written 
during the Exile. 

Toward the end of the fourth century, or at the be- 
ginning of the third, appeared Chronicles, as well as the 
books of Ezra and Nehemiah. They contain memoirs 
from the hands of Ezra and Nehemiah. 

Ecclesiastes was written toward the end of the third 
century ; so also Esther ; Daniel dates from 167-164. 

We merely mention here Proverbs and the Psalms, 
because they both belong to epochs very various and 
uncertain. A large number of proverbs were a sort of 
heritage of the whole nation, passing from mouth to 
mouth, and from one generation to another, a long time 
before they became part of a written collection. In 
the second and fourth parts of the book of Proverbs (x. 
1-xxii. 16, and chaps, xxv.-xxix.) are found the oldest 
maxims. Chapters i.-ix. seem to be the latest portion ; 
we think that they had their origin not earlier than the 
third period. The book, then, in its present form, can- 
not be older. It is difficult to say precisely at what 
epoch each of the various parts of the collection was 
formed, and when the whole received its final shape. 

What we have just said of Proverbs applies, in part, 
to the Psalms. It is impossible to say just when the 
various psalms were written, when each of the five 
books of the Psalter was compiled, and when the whole 



D THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

received its present form. There are psalms that may 
be attributed to David, and others that belong perhaps 
to the epoch of the Maccabees ; but there is a lack of 
data reliable enough for determining the date of each. 
It seems certain, however, that in the first book of the 
Psalter we have the oldest psalms, and that the last 
books contain the latest. 

The apocryphal books that will be taken into account 
were written between the beginning of the second and 
the end of the first century before the Christian era. 
To the second century also belongs the translation of 
the Seventy, to which frequent reference will be made. 

We shall usually cite passages of the apocryphal 
books according to this version, because the various 
modern versions differ so widely from one another in 
the division of the chapters and verses. 

As there is sometimes the same liability^ to confusion 
in the case of the canonical books, we shall cite passages 
taken from them according to Segond's translation, 
which is already very widely known and will groAv in 
popularity. When we have occasion to refer to the 
original, we shall of course quote the Hebrew Bible. 
The reader who can not refer to this text will do well to 
consult the Lausanne translation, which is more literal 
than the others, and which will better enable him to see 
the reason for, or the aptness of, a given citation. 1 

1 [The translator might have substituted, for quotations from the 
French Bible, the words of the Revised English Version, and for those 
from the original, direct translations of his own, but it has seemed 
fairer to the author simply to translate all these quotations from the 
text of his book. ] 



FIRST PERIOD. 



§ 1. MOSAISM. 

It is well known that the Pentateuch attributes to 
Moses a work of truly colossal proportions: the deliver- 
ance of the people Israel from bondage in Egypt, their 
religious and social organization, and finally a very 
extensive and complicated legislation. But, in view 
of the results of modern criticism, one may well ask 
whether it is now possible to know for certain any- 
thing concerning the person and work of the great 
legislator. 

When one closely examines the historical books of 
the Old Testament, it is easily perceived that the his- 
torical sense was not developed to any greater extent 
among the Israelites than among most of the other 
peoples of antiquity ; they constantly construct the past 
according to the present, or transfer the present to the 
past; they imagine the institutions existing at any given 
epoch as dating from the remotest antiquity, and write 
history accordingly. This should not, however, surprise 
us, since the same phenomenon is reproduced in the 
bosom of the Christian Church. Even now most Catho- 
lics imagine that the institutions of their church go back 
to Jesus and the apostles, and ecclesiastical history h;ts 
been written in good faith from this point of view. Id 

7 



8 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the various Protestant churches also it is fondly believed 
that the dogmas held are a faithful expression of the 
teaching of Jesus and the apostles, and more than once 
this teaching has, in all sincerity, been modelled after 
modern dogmatic systems. 

One has only to compare Chronicles with the parallel 
accounts of the books of Samuel and Kings, and the 
parallel accounts of these last with one another, to see 
that, in the various narratives, the same event is often 
reported in different ways, sometimes from entirely 
different points of view, and that the history of Israel 
is transformed and transfigured by passing from mouth 
to mouth and from one generation to another. The 
same fact may be observed in the Pentateuch. 

In Genesis we have a double account of the creation 
and the deluge, and the two narratives differ greatly 
from each other. In the history of the patriarchs, also, 
many events are narrated two, or even three, times, and 
in a manner often very different. It is the same with 
other accounts of the Pentateuch and the book of 
Joshua. This is explained by the fact that the Penta- 
teuch and the book of Joshua are a compilation of 
materials drawn from sources of different epochs and 
origins. What is true of the narratives is equally true 
of the legislative portions. The oldest laws are found 
in Ex. xx.-xxiii. and xxxiv. Now, when this legis- 
lation is compared with that of Deuteronomy, it is 
discovered that, while there are numerous analogies, 
there are still more numerous differences. And when 
these two series of laws are placed alongside the other 
legislative provisions contained in Exodus, Leviticus, 
and Numbers, the discrepancies appear even more pro- 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 1. MOSAISM. 9 

nounced. The French work of M. Reuss on the Bible, 
and the majority of the commentaries, furnish abundant 
proof in support of these assertions. 

These legislative collections, so different and often 
even contradictory, cannot all have originated with 
Moses. We have seen, indeed, that one portion of the 
legislation of the Pentateuch dates only from the time 
of Ezra, and. another from the time of Josiah. There 
remains the oldest portion above mentioned. Is it by 
Moses ? The most competent critics agree that it is not, 
but that, on the contrary, it did not originate before David. 
It has even been demonstrated that the Decalogue, the 
kernel of which may well be as old as Moses, in its pres- 
ent form, is not of so ancient a date. What, then, can 
we know for certain concerning the legislative activity 
of Moses, in which we are particularly interested ? It is 
difficult to say- It has even been suggested that Moses 
is only a mythical personage. But since the people Israel 
attributed to him the laws successively developed among 
them, as they attributed their psalms to David and their 
proverbs to Solomon, we are authorized to think that 
Moses is a historical personage as much as these two 
kings, and that he was the first great legislator of Israel, 
as David was their first important hymnist, and Solomon 
their first distinguished didactic; poet. Just, however, 
as it is next to impossible to distinguish the genuine 
psalms of David and the genuine proverbs of Solomon 
from those that were later erroneously attributed to them, 
so it is impossible to distinguish the laws originating with 
Moses from those that do not belong to him. We are 
perfectly certain that a large number of the laws of the 
Pentateuch are not Mosaic. There are others that may 



10 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

be, although we have not the means of establishing the 
fact with certainty. We shall, therefore, at most, be 
able to arrive at the spirit of Mosaism, at its funda- 
mental principles, by induction, starting from early 
prophetism and the religious and moral condition of 
the times following those of Moses. These principles 
we shall seek to unfold in the following paragraphs. 

It will be understood, after what has just been said, 
why we have not begun our discussion with the patri- 
archs, as it has been the custom to do. Since it is next 
to impossible to distinguish with certainty historical 
data from later additions in the accounts respecting 
Moses, there can be still less hope of being able to 
make such a distinction in the narratives in Genesis 
relating to a more remote epoch. The contents of Gen- 
esis are certainly, to an even greater degree than those 
of the other books of the Pentateuch, a reflex of later 
times. We are able to learn from them what was the 
religious and moral ideal of the Israelites at the time 
when these various stories had their origin, but not 
what was the religious and moral life of the patriarchs 
themselves. 

Certain isolated passages of the Old Testament teach 
us that the ancestors of Israel were devoted to the 
idolatrous usages of the other Semitic peoples until 
the time of Moses and Joshua. 1 As all subsequent his- 
tory shows us that the inclination to idolatry remained 
dominant in Israel until the Exile, in spite of the ener- 
getic and incessant efforts of the prophets to extirpate 

i Josh. xxiv. 2, 14, 23; Amos v. 25 f. ; Ezek. xvi. 20 ff., 26 ff.; 
xx. (> ff., 15 ff., 24 ff. ; xxiii. 3, 8 ; conip. Gen. xxxi. 19, 30 ff. ; xxxv. 
2 ff. ; Ex. xxxii. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 2. ANCIENT PROPHETISM. 11 

it, we may conclude that these isolated references are 
perfectly historical, and that the picture of the religion 
of their ancestors that later generations painted and left 
us is an ideal picture. 

§ 2. ANCIENT PKOPHETISM AND THE AKT OP 
DIVINATION. 

Moses was not only the first legislator, but also the 
first genuine prophet of his people. 1 There is no doubt 
that he sought to impress his spirit upon the elect of 
his nation and thus provide himself with successors in 
his work. We read in the book of Numbers that, while 
he was yet living, the spirit of God and the gift of 
prophecy were bestowed upon a certain number of the 
elders of Israel. 2 It is therefore very probable that 
Moses had immediate successors, and that, beginning 
with this epoch, the succession of prophets was unin- 
terrupted, though the early traditions of Israel, which 
are rich enough in military and political details, have 
preserved on this more spiritual subject only very vague 
and incomplete references. 3 Jeremiah expressly says 
that, after the exodus from Eg}^pt, Jehovah constantly 
sent prophets to his people. 4 In the times of the Judges, 
however, the prophets seem to have been few in num- 
ber. 5 Except Deborah, who is called a prophetess, 6 there 
is mention of a prophet only in Jud. vi. 7 ff. and 1 Sam. 
ii. 27 ff. But these various data do not furnish us exact 

1 Ilos.xii. 13; Deut. xviii. 15, 18; xxxiv. 10. 

2 Chap. xi. 24 ff. 

3 Keuss, Les Prophetes, I. pp. 5, 7 f. ; idem, Gesch. drr Ji. Schrtften 
A. T., § 115; Schultz, Old Testament Theology, I. p. 2:)'.). 

4 Jer. vii. 25. 6 1 Sam. iii. 1. (i Jud. iv. 4. 



12 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

and reliable indications touching the character and in- 
fluence of early prophetism. It appears to us, with 
somewhat distinct outlines, first in Samuel, who is 
incontestably the most conspicuous personage, after 
Moses, in the history of Israel. 

Samuel enjoyed a high degree of consideration among 
his people. 1 The best proof of this is the fact that 
" two rival dynasties appeal to him to establish their 
right to the throne." He performed the functions of 
a judge. 2 But he was greatest of all in the religious 
influence that he exerted. He contended vigorously 
against idolatry and all unfaithfulness to Jehovah. 3 His 
chief work, from a religious point of view, was the 
foundation of the schools of prophets, by which he 
became the promoter of a movement of the greatest 
importance for the future of the religion of Israel. 

It is, no doubt, Samuel to whom must be attributed 
this remarkable institution. Before him there is no men- 
tion of it. There is, in fact, as we have seen, little 
reference to prophets as a class. Samuel, on the other 
hand, appears at the head of a guild of prophets, 4 schools 
of whom are found chiefly in the districts and places 
where he resides and pursues his calling. They are 
mentioned in connection with Gibeah, near Ramah, 
Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal ; 5 that is, places chiefly in the 
mountains of Ephraim. 6 Now it is this region, and 
generally the places mentioned, in which we find Sam- 
uel sojourning. He had his house at Ramah, where he 

1 1 Sam. iii. 20 f. ; ix. 6 ; xii. 3-5 ; xxv. 1 ; xxviii. 3 ; Jer. xv. 1. 

2 1 Sara. vii. 15. 3 2 Sam. vii. 3-0 ; xv. 17 ff. 4 1 Sara. xix. 20. 
s 1 Sam. x. 5, 10 ; xix. 18-20 ; 2 Kings ii. 3, 5 ; iv. 38. 

e 2 Kings v. 22. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 2. ANCIENT PROPHETISM. 13 

usually lived, and where he was buried. 1 From Ramah 
he betook himself every year to Bethel, Gilgal, and 
Mispah, to judge the people. 2 At Gilgal he often 
gathered great popular assemblies. 3 We see him also 
at Gibeah. 4 

Maybaum always contends that Samuel did nothing 
but reform the schools of the prophets, which existed 
before his day; that he combated the art of divination 
which had thus far been chiefly cultivated therein; 
that he stamped them with a character more elevated, 
more ideal ; and that thus he gave to prophetism the 
impulse resulting in the greater spirituality of later 
times. 5 This statement is not absolutely improbable ; 
but it is not perfectly established, as it cannot be, since 
the positive data are too meagre on this point. 

The pupils of these schools bore the name of sons 
of prophets, 6 and their teachers probably that of fathers. 7 
These sons of prophets, sometimes also called simply 
prophets, 8 were very numerous. They are mentioned 
by hundreds. 9 They were of course mostly young per- 
sons, 10 but there were married men among them. 11 Later 
we find Elijah and Elisha at their head. 12 After these 

1 1 Sam. vii. 17 ; viii. 4 ; xix. 18 ; xxv. 1 ; xxviii. 3. 

2 1 Sam. vii. 15 f. 

3 1 Sam. x. 8 ; xi. 14 f. ; xiii. 18 ff. ; xv. 33. 

4 1 Sam. xiii. 15. 

5 Entwickelung des isral. Prophetenthums, pp. 38 ff. 
8 1 Kings xx. 35 ; 2 Kings ii. 3, 5, 7, 15. 

7 1 Sam. x. 12 ; 2 Kings ii. 12 ; comp. vi. 21 ; xiii. 14 ; Prov. i. 8 ; 
iv. 1. 

8 1 Sam. xix. 20 ; 1 Kings xx. 35 ; com]), vr. 38, 41. 

9 1 Kings xviii. 4, 13 ; xxii. 6 ; 2 Kings ii. 7, 10 ; iv. 43 ; vi. 1. 

10 2 Kings v. 22 ; ix. 1,4. " 2 Kings iv. 1. 

12 2 Kings ii. 15; iv. 1 ff.,38: vi. 1 ff. 



14 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

two great prophets, history makes no further mention of 
them. 

What was done in these schools of prophets, and 
what was the object of them ? The sacred text teaches 
us next to nothing on this subject. One can gather 
from 1 Sam. x. 5, at most, only that the pupils of the 
prophets practised vocal and instrumental music. It 
may be taken for granted that in their meetings they 
practised, also, reading, writing, and speaking ; that 
they were instructed in religion, social ethics, and law; 
that among them were preserved and developed the 
principles of Mosaism. 1 The essential object of these 
associations was evidently that pursued by Samuel, 
Elijah, Elisha, and all the genuine prophets of Israel ; 
namely, the maintenance of the worship of Jehovah 
against the ceaseless attacks of idolatry. It was a 
grand task to which they were devoted in these schools 
of prophets. But they probably also practised the art 
of divination, which, as we shall see, was inseparable 
from ancient prophetism. 

To get a somewhat adequate idea of this prophetism, 
which was far from being of the dignity of that of later 
times, one must not lose sight of what is reported 
(1 Sam. xix. 20 ff.) of an assembly of disciples of 
prophets, over which Samuel himself presided. We are 
told that Saul sent thither, three times, persons to take 
David, and that these messengers, seeing the assembly 
prophesying, were themselves also seized by the spirit 
of God, and, in their turn, made to prophesy ; that 
Saul, also, upon betaking himself thither in person, fell 

1 Reuss, Lcs Prophetes, I. p. 11; Geschichte, § 110; [Robertson, 
Early Religion of Israel, pp. 01 ft*.]. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 2. ANCIENT PROPHETISM. 15 

under the same influence of the spirit of God, and 
prophesied, stripping, like the others, his garments from 
him, and remaining a day and a night stretched naked 
on the ground. Hence we see that, anciently, those 
who wished to prophesy put themselves into a state 
of religious ecstasy or exaltation, which was induced 
by the aid of music, songs and probably instrumental 
accompaniments to dancing, and which might produce 
the strangest effects, finally resulting in complete and 
prolonged prostration. 

Prophecy, thus understood, could not consist of dis- 
courses like the prophetic preaching, since prophets, 
gathered in great numbers, prophesied at the same time. 
Reuss, therefore, here and elsewhere, renders the word 
prophesy by sing \_chanter~\. The correctness of this 
rendering appears from 1 Sam. x. 5, where reference is 
made to a band of prophets coming down from the high 
place, preceded by the lute, the tambourine, the flute, 
and the harp, and prophesying. Reuss, on this pas- 
sage, makes the following remark : " The band, preceded 
by instruments, sang hymns, sacred songs, probably 
dancing and evincing by gestures a certain momentary 
exaltation. There is the less reason for thinking of 
discourses, since the prophets, who are numerous, all 
speak and have no hearers." We see from 2 Kings iii. 
15, that, still later, music was considered an indispensa- 
ble means of producing prophetic inspiration. 

The fact that all sorts of eccentricities were mingled 
with ancient prophetism, is evidently the reason why 
the prophets are sometimes treated as fools or madmen. 1 
The curious symbolic acts that they employed to express 

1 IIos. ix. 7 ; Jer. xxix. '!(> ; 'i Kind's ix. I 1. 



16 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

their idea the more picturesquely, also helped to gain 
them this reputation. 1 

Beginning with Samuel and the appearance of the 
schools of prophets, one meets prophets in Israel for 
several centuries. The most influential of those who 
belong to our period seem to have been Elijah and his 
disciple Elisha. We do not, however, consider it 
necessary to dwell on everything that is reported con- 
cerning them. For it is clear that, when the historical 
books that tell us of them were edited, their deeds and 
teachings were to some extent colored by the influence 
of later prophetism. We come to perceive this in the 
period following, and by the help of the most reliable 
documents ; namely, the writings emanating from the 
prophets themselves. For the present we shall confine 
ourselves to noticing the features peculiar to ancient 
prophetism of which we have not thus far spoken. 

In ancient times it was customary to go to consult the 
prophets as diviners. They were considered as, first of 
all, seers, 2 men who saw things that others were not able 
to see. Thus Saul went to Samuel to learn from him 
what had become of his father's stray asses ; 3 Jeroboam 
sent his wife to the prophet Ahijah to ask what would 
happen to his sick son ; 4 and Benhadad, king of Syria, 
sent to consult Elisha as to whether he should recover 
from his sickness. 5 It appears also, from these three 
and other cases, 6 that the profession of a seer was a 
remunerative one. 

1 1 Kings xi. 29 ff. ; xx. 35 ; xxii. 11 ; 2 Kings xiii. 15 ff. ; Isa. viii. 
1 ; xx. 2 f. ; Jer. xix. 1 ff., 10 ff. ; xxvii. 1 ff., 12 ff. ; xxviii. 10 ff. ; xliii. 
8 ff. ; li. 59 ff. ; Ezek. xxiv. 15 ff. ; xxxvii. 15 ff. 

2 1 Sam. ix. 9. 3 Chap. ix. 4 1 Kings xiv. 1 ff. B 2 Kings viii. 7 ff. 
6 Num. xxii. 7 ; 1 Kings xiii. 7 ; 2 Kings v. 15; Mic. iii. 11. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 2. ANCIENT PROPHETISM. 17 

In ancient times dreams and visions must have 
played an important part in the activity of the prophets. 
An old passage, indeed, attributes to Jehovah these 
words : " When there is among you a prophet, in a 
vision will I, Jehovah, reveal myself to him ; in a dream 
will I speak to him." 1 Visions and dreams, as means 
of revelation, occupy a large place even in the history 
of the patriarchs. 2 There are references to dreams of 
this kind also in Jud. vii. 13 ff. and 1 Kings iii. 5 ff. 
Finally, another old passage, 1 Sam. xxviii. 6, mentions 
dreams as employed by Jehovah equally with urim and 
prophets. Later, however, there seems to have been 
great distrust of this means of revelation. 3 

It is evident that ancient prophetism was not clearly 
distinguished from the art of divination as it was prac- 
tised among almost all the peoples. This explains why 
it was admitted in Israel that Jehovah spoke by the 
mouths of foreign diviners, by that of Balaam, for exam- 
ple ; 4 that the priests and diviners of the Philistines 
were able to make truthful announcements ; 5 that God 
was able to reveal himself in dreams and speak to Gen- 
tiles as well as to the patriarchs. 6 Moses and his mira- 
cles are placed upon almost the same level as the magi- 
cians of Egypt and their prodigies. 7 

All this, moreover, finds confirmation in some other 
usages of which this is the place to speak. Thus, the 

1 Num. xii. ; comp. Joel ii. 28 ; Job xxxiii. 15. 

2 Gen. xv. 1 if., 12 ff. ■ xxviii. 12 if. ; xxxi. 10, 24 ; xxxvii. 5 ft., <> if. ; 
xlvi. 2 ff. 

8 Jer. xxiii. 25 ff. ; xxvii. !) ; xxix. H ; Zech. x. 2 ; Dent. xiii. 1 ff. ; 
Eccl. v. 7. 

4 Num. xxiii. 5 ff.; xxiv. 2 If. & 1 S;;:n. vi. 2 ff. 

B Gen. xx. :\ ff.: xl. 5 ff ■ xli. 1 ff. < Ex. vii. 1 1 f. • viii. 3, I I 



18 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

direction of Jehovah was asked in difficult circum- 
stances, in embarrassing situations. 1 This was ordinarily 
done at the sanctuary and through the mediation of the 
priest. 2 Yet, according to document A, the people con- 
sulted God also by the aid of Moses, 3 who, besides, as 
we shall see, performed sacerdotal functions and, as we 
have already seen, was a prophet. Samuel also was at 
the same time priest and prophet. Generally speaking, 
as long as the prophetism of Israel was more or less con- 
founded with the art of divination, the priests and the 
prophets did not form two distinct classes of men of 
God : every priest was a prophet or diviner, and every 
prophet was a diviner and a priest, as was the case 
among most of the peoples. 4 

In consulting Jehovah, urim and thummim were em- 
ployed. " The word urim by virtue of its etymology 
points to the enlightening effect, thummim to the cor- 
rectness and reliabilit}^, of the divine response." 5 This 
oracle was employed from the earliest times, as is appar- 
ent from an old passage, where it appears as a means of 
revelation with dreams and prophets ; 6 and as indicated 
by Deut. xxxiii. 8, it was early entrusted to the sacer- 
dotal caste. According to document C, the high-priest 
alone could be its guardian, the urim and thummim 
forming part of his sacerdotal dress. 7 

1 Gen. xxv. 22 ; Ex. xviii. 15 ; Josh. ix. 14 ; Jud. i. 1 ; xx. 23 ; 1 
Sam. x. 22 ; xxiii. 2 ; xxviii. 6 ; 2 Sam. ii. 1 ; v. 19, 23 ff.; xxi. 1. 

2 Jud. xviii. 5 f. ; xx. 18, 27 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 30 f. ; xxii. 9 f., 13. 

3 Ex. xviii. 15 ; xxxiii. 7. 

4 Wellhausen, History of Israel, p. 396 ; Maybaum, pp. 7 ff. ; [W. 
Robertson Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, p. 285] . 

6 Oehler, Old Testament Theology, § 97. G 1 Sam xxviii. 0. 

7 Ex. xxviii. 30 ; Lev. viii. 8 ; Num. xxvii. 21. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 2. ANCIENT PROPHETISM. 19 

The archaeologists have been at great pains to explain 
of what this oracle consisted, and how one proceeded 
to learn by its aid the will of God. It is probable that 
the response was given by means of the lot ; : for the 
Israelites made use of it from the remotest antiquity in 
the conviction that the result obtained from it con- 
formed to the will of God and the truth. 2 

In consulting God, the ephod, also, was employed. 
This term ordinarily designates a sacerdotal garment. 3 
But it seems also to have denoted a carved image, or 
rather the plating that covered this image, which was an 
object of adoration, and probably a symbolical represen- 
tation of Jehovah. 4 This is the case, also, 1 Sam. xxiii. 
9 ff., xxx. 7 f\, where the ephod appears precisely like 
an oracle. 5 One may suppose that the lot also was used 
when God was consulted by means of the ephod. 

The Israelites sometimes asked God to reveal to them 
his will by a certain sign. Eliezer did so, that he might 
recognize the young woman who was to be the wife of 
Isaac ; 6 and Gideon, that he might be assured that 
Jehovah was speaking to him, and had chosen him to 
deliver Israel. 7 Or God himself designated the sign by 
which his servants might perceive what they were to 

1 Riehm's Handworterbuch , pp. 910 f. ; [\V. R. Smith, Old Test., 
pp. 42 f.]. 

2 Josh. vii. 14 ff. ; xiv. 2 ; 1 Sam. x. 20 ff . ; xiv. 44 f. ; Num. xxvi. 
55 f. ; Prov. xvi. 33 ; xviii. 18. 

3 1 Sam. ii. 18 ; xxii. 18 ; 2 Sam. vi. 14 ; Ex. xxviii. ff. 

4 Jud. viii. 27 ; xvii. 5; xviii. 14, 18, 20 ; 1 Sam. xxi. 9 ; xxiii. ; 
Hos. iii. 4. 

6 Reuss on the passages cited, and (i<>sch., § L39 ; Vatke, Bill. 
Thro/., pp. 207 ft'. ; [Montefiore, Ribbert Lectures, 1892, pp. r.), 
07, 09]. 

« Gen. xxiv. 14 ff. < Jud. vi. 17 ff., 36 ff. 



20 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

do. It was such a sign by means of which Gideon 
knew who were the men that he was to select to con- 
tend with the Midianites, 1 and obtained the assurance 
that Jehovah had delivered the hostile camp into his 
hands ; 2 such a sign also notified David of the moment 
when Jehovah would march before him to smite the 
Philistines. 3 

We might mention, further, among the usages of 
this kind, necromancy, which is also found employed 
by other peoples of antiquity. 4 We learn from 1 Sam. 
xxviii. that, toward the end of the reign of Saul, when 
Jehovah no longer answered the king by dreams, or by 
urim, or by the prophets, the king betook himself to a 
woman of Endor, who summoned the dead, that she 
might cause Samuel to rise before him; and this, accord- 
ing to the narrative, actually took place. From the 
same passage we learn that Saul had previously ban- 
ished necromancers from the country, which proves 
that anciently this means of divination was employed 
in Israel. Finally, we see that the editor of our narra- 
tive believed in the possibility of summoning the dead 
and obtaining through them knowledge of the future. 
In later times this means of divination again came into 
use. 5 

1 Jud. vii. 4 ff. 2 Jud. vii. 9 ff. 3 2 Sam. v. 23-25. 

4 Winer, art. Todtenbeschworer ; [Smith, Dictionary of the Bible, 
art. Divination']. 

5 2 Kings xxi 6. ; xxiii. 24 ; comp. Isa. viii. 19 ; xxix. 4 ; Deut. 
xviii. 11 ; Lev. xix. 31 ; xx. 6, 27. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 3. THE IDEA OF GOD. 21 



§ 3. THE IDEA OP GOD. 

This idea is fundamental in the Israeli tish as in every 
other religion. In order to find a safe point of departure 
for it, we shall begin by considering the religious 
thoughts that are expressed in the song of Deborah. 
It is generally admitted that this passage is the oldest 
document of any importance in Hebrew literature that 
has been preserved to us, and that it dates from the 
very epoch to which it relates. 

In this poem, Jehovah is called the God of Israel, 1 
and Israel the people of Jehovah. 2 The victory of 
Israel is due to Jehovah, who, for this reason, is exalted 
by oar song. 3 The cause of Israel is the cause of Jeho- 
vah, the enemies of the one are the enemies of the other, 
the succor lent to Israel is lent to Jehovah. 4 Jehovah 
is regarded as dwelling on Sinai, whence he comes 
across the Southland to succor his people, making the 
earth and the heavens tremble. 5 

The thought that Jehovah is the God of Israel, is 
here expressed with a conviction so firm, that it cannot 
be of recent date, but must certainly go back as far as 
Moses, if not farther. The first words of the decalogue : 
"I am Jehovah thy God, who caused thee to go forth 
from the laud of Egypt, from the house of bondage ; 
thou shalt not have other gods before my face " — these 
words, which contain the fundamental law of Israel, 
may, then, well be Mosaic. The same may be said of 
the theocratic idea, which constitutes the essence of the 
religion of Israel, the idea that Jehovah is the veritable 

1 Jud. v. 3, 6. *v. 11. "vv. 2 f., 9, 11, L3. 

4 vr. 23, 31. 5 vv. 4 f. 



22 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

king of his people, and that he directs all that concerns 
them ; for it is implied in this declaration of the deca- 
logue, and it is an evident inference from the song of 
Deborah. When Gideon declines the crown, saying to 
his fellow-citizens, "Jehovah shall be your king" 1 he 
thereby announces a Mosaic principle. Samuel also 
conforms to this principle when he opposes the estab- 
lishment of the monarchy in Israel. 2 The words put 
into the mouth of Jehovah and addressed to Samuel : 
"It is not thou whom they reject; it is I whom they 
reject, that I may no longer reign over them," admirably 
describe this ancient point of view. 

Though this idea, that Jehovah alone is the God of 
Israel, and that the Israelites should not worship other 
gods, can be traced to Moses, we cannot place the date 
of absolute monotheism so early. It certainly did not 
appear in Israel until much later. We see, indeed, that 
not only the people, but the kings, even Solomon him- 
self, who had had a temple built for Jehovah, were de- 
voted to the worship of strange gods, or favored it. 
This proves that they attributed a real existence to these 
gods. We know, moreover, that, in antiquity, a people 
that had frequent intercourse with other peoples readily 
adopted, besides its national god or gods, the god or 
gods of a friendly nation, or a nation that had conquered 
them, or that they themselves had reduced to submis- 
sion. The Israelites, in following this custom, did not 
mean to desert Jehovah, nor did they wish to be un- 
faithful to him ; they merely associated with him other 
gods, practised what has properly been called syncretism. 
Though the sacred authors of a later epoch, taking the 
i Jud. viii. 23. 2 1 Sam. viii. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 3. THE IDEA OF GOD. 23 

point of view of pure or absolute monotheism, very 
severely reprobated this way of thinking and acting, the 
early Israelites doubtless judged otherwise concerning 
it, because they did not see in foreign gods purely imag- 
inary beings, least of all abominations, as they were 
afterwards called, but real gods as able as Jehovah to 
protect and bless their worshippers. 

We see that the most faithful Israelites shared these 
ideas. Thus Jacob seems astonished at the presence of 
Jehovah on a foreign soil. 1 He promises to take him 
for his God if he will grant him protection. 2 This 
implies the possibility of a different choice and the exist- 
ence of other gods. When, at a later date, this style 
of thought was attributed to the patriarchs, the most 
enlightened in Israel had evidently not passed this 
point of view. 3 This is proven by several other notable 
examples. Thus Jephthah recognizes the actual exist- 
ence of Chemosh, the god of the Moabites. 4 Joash, 
the father of Gideon, says : " If Baal is a god, let him 
plead his own cause, since his altar has been over- 
thrown." 5 If, by this speech, Joash does not seem 
exactly to recognize in Baal a god, he at least admits 
the possibility that there may be other gods than Jeho- 
vah. David himself seems to believe, with his contem- 
poraries, that it is not Jehovah, but other gods, who 
rule, and can be worshipped outside the land of Canaan. 1 ' 
He conveys the thought that the God of Israel is a 

i Gen. xxviii. 10. 2 Gen. xxviii. 20 ff. 

3 Baudissin, Studien zur si mitischen Religionsgesch., 1. 1>]>. 61, 157 f.; 
[ W. R. Smith, Prophets of Israel, pp. 53 if. ; Montefiore, Lectures, 
pp.34ff.]. 

4 Jud. xi. 2\ ; comp. Num. xxi. 29. 

6 Jud. vi. 31. c 1 Sam. xxvi. 1!) I 



24 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

national God. 1 Naaman thinks that he must carry to 
Syria some of the soil of the land of Canaan, in order 
to be able to rear an altar in honor of Jehovah; 2 "he 
feels himself in the domain of Jehovah only on the soil 
of the land of Israel," 3 and Elisha seems to agree with 
him, since he makes no objection. Naomi and Ruth 
think that, in the land of Moab, one must, of necessity, 
serve the gods of the Moabites, as the God of Israel is 
served in the land of Canaan. 4 

The existence of foreign gods is also doubtless pre- 
supposed in the old passages that forbid the worship of 
these gods, like Ex. xx. 2 f ., and in those that assert that 
Jehovah is greater than they, like Ex. xv. II. 5 In the 
old documents the expressions that designate Jehovah 
as a peculiar God, especially the name " God of the 
Hebrews," 6 also seem to imply the thought that he is a 
purely national God. 7 

Schultz says, and justly, that on account of the potent 
realism of antiquity, the first impression could not have 
been that the foreign gods were only products of the 
imagination ; that it is entirely natural that the gods of 
the gentile world should at first be placed side by side 
with the God of Israel. He adds, that it must never be 
forgotten that the religion of the Old Testament is 
purely practical ; that it is not intended first of all to 
give instruction concerning the celestial world, but to 
waken the conviction that salvation is to be found only 
in the God of the covenant and in the covenant with 

1 1 Sam. xvii. 46. 2 2 Kings v. 17. 3 Baudissin, I. p. 46. 

4 Ruth i. 15 ff. ; ii. 12. 5 Baudissin, I. pp. 66 ff., 70. 

6 See especially Ex. iii. 18 ; vii. 16. 

7 Baudissin, I. pp. 156 f. ; [Schultz, Theology, 1. pp. 178 f.]. 



FIRST PERIOD. § 3. THE IDEA OF GOD. 25 

him; that its first task is to teach, not that there can- 
not be any other deities besides the God of Israel, but 
that Israel must have none besides him. 1 

If the ancient Israelites had not yet attained to abso- 
lute monotheism, they had just as little conception of 
the idea of the perfect spirituality of God. They repre- 
sented him to themselves, on the contrary, under the 
form of man. According to the biblical narratives, God 
visits Abraham with two companions ; he accepts the 
hospitality that the patriarch offers him ; he converses 
with him and Sarah, then goes away toward Sodom, ac- 
companied by his host, to whom, on the way, he makes 
known his purpose to destroy the guilty cities. 2 He 
forms man out of the dust of the ground, as any artist 
would do; he breathes into his nostrils the breath of life ; 
he plants a garden in Eden ; he takes a rib of the man to 
make the woman, and carefully closes up the flesh in 
place of it ; he rests from the work of creation when he 
has finished it. 3 After the fall he appears in the garden 
of Eden ; he walks through it; he calls Adam and Eve ; 
he informs them of the penalties that will overtake 
them ; then he makes them garments of skin and clothes 
them. 4 He closes the door of the ark upon Noah. 5 He 
smells the pleasant odor of the burnt-offering that the 
latter offers him. 6 I To engages in a hand-to-hand con- 
flict, like a man, with Jacob. 7 He attacks Moses in the 
night, and attempts to kill him; 8 lie speaks to him as 
one person speaks to another; 9 lie buries him after his 

1 Theology, T. pp. 181 f. ; comp. Baudissin, I. pp. 156, 17r>. 

2 Gen. xviii. f. » Gen. ii. 7 f. ; 21 f., .'}. 4 Gen. iii. S-20. 

* (Jen. \ ii. 10. « Gen. viii. 21. * Gen. xxxii. 2 1 IT. 

8 Ex. iv. 24. '■' Ex. xxxiii. 11 ; Num. xii. 8. 



26 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

death ; J he pronounces the ten words of the decalogue, 2 
and engraves them on tables of stone. 3 He raises his 
hand to take an oath. 4 It is only necessary to read a 
few pages of the prophets or the Psalms to be convinced 
that God is regarded as possessing all the members and 
functions of the human body. He is even said to hiss, 5 
to cry, 6 to laugh, 7 to sleep and awake. 8 

It is clear that in the prophets and the Psalms these 
expressions belong to the poetic style. But originally, 
and even at a later date in the mouth of the people, they 
were not merely rhetorical; they corresponded to the 
imperfect ideas that were current respecting the Deity. 
When the narratives of the Pentateuch, from which we 
have taken the examples above cited, were composed, 
they were certainly taken in their literal signification. 
We think that even at the time when the original nar- 
rators borrowed them from popular tradition to stereo- 
type them in writing, they were still generally taken in 
this sense. 

Since God was represented under the human form, it 
was natural to put him into a certain place. According 
to the whole Old Testament, God dwells in heaven, 
whence he observes what happens on the earth, and 
whence he descends to do what he does among men. 
Later, the ideas on this subject were comparatively 
enlightened ; but in ancient times, as several stories 
prove, the current conception was rather gross. Thus 
Jehovah comes down to see the city and the tower of 

1 Deut. xxxiv. 6. 2 Ex. xx. 1 ff. 3 Ex. xxxii. 16 ; xxxiv. 1. 

4 Ex. vi. 8 ; Num. xiv. 30 ; Deut. xxxii. 40. 

5 Isa. v. 26 ; vii. 18. 6 Isa. xlii. 13 f. ; Jer. xxv. 30. 
7 Ps. ii. 4 ; lix. 8. 8 Ps. xliv. 23 ; lxxviii. 05. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 3. THE IDEA OF GOD. 27 

Babel, that the children of men are building; he says, 
" Come, let us go down and confound their speech." l 
In view of the corruption of the inhabitants of Sodom 
and Gomorrah, he says: "I will go down and see if 
they have acted altogether according to the report that 
hath come to me, and if it is not so, I shall know it." 2 
He appears to Moses and declares to him that he has 
come down to deliver his people from the hand of the 
Egyptians, and to bring them into the land of Canaan. 3 
When the law is promulgated, he comes down upon 
Mount Sinai. 4 And these are not the only instances of 
this kind. 5 

We know that, according to the whole Old Testa- 
ment, Jehovah is regarded as dwelling in the midst of 
his people, and more especially in the sanctuary. This 
was only another way of localizing him. This idea, 
which was later spiritualized, was in ancient times cer- 
tainly very grossly conceived. According to a passage 
of the song of Deborah already cited, Sinai was origi- 
nally considered the peculiar abode of the God of Israel ; 
the same opinion recurs in other passages, especially 
in the twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus, where Ave see 
Moses and his companions ascending Sinai to draw near 
to Jehovah. 

Other imperfections, the imperfect affections and sen- 
timents of the human soul, were attributed to God. 
He is seized with jealousy on seeing men exalting them- 
selves above their ordinary condition, and he feels him- 
self obliged to oppose their proud designs, in order to 

1 Gen. xi. 5, 7. 2 Gen. xviii. 21. 8 Ex. iii. 8. 

4 Ex. xix. 9, 11, IS, 20 ; coin]), xxxiv. 5. 

5 Num. xi. 17, 25 ; xii. 5; xxii. !), 20; xxiii. 3 f., 10. 



28 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

maintain the separation that exists between him and 
them. 1 He is obliged to put Abraham to the proof, in 
order to learn that he is faithful to him. 2 In all the 
books of the Old Testament there are references to 
oaths of God, to repentance on his part, to his jealousy, 
to his anger, to his vengeance. But moral imperfections, 
even more shocking, were attributed to him. It is related 
that he incited Moses and the Israelites to cheat and rob 
the Egyptians, and that he assisted them in this at- 
tempt. 3 Nowhere in antiquity was there any obligation 
felt toward strangers, least of all toward enemies. Je- 
hovah, therefore, inasmuch as he was regarded as 
exclusively or especially the national God of Israel, had, 
it was thought, no actual obligations toward the enemies 
of Israel. 

Certain primitive usages show us that as .the ancient 
Israelites did not regard God as a pure spirit, neither 
did they know how to worship him in spirit. We shall 
see farther on how important was the part played by 
external observances in Israel, and particularly by the 
sacred ark, whose presence was identified with that of 
Jehovah himself. There were other objects of worship 
with reference to which superstitious ideas were current. 

The teraphirn, which we find even in the family of the 
patriarchs, 4 reappear in the house of David 5 and else- 
where, and the worshippers of Jehovah ascribed to them 
great value, as well as to other sacred statues and 
images, among which must be reckoned the ephod, 

i Gen. iii. 22 ; xi. 6 f. 

2 Gen. xxii. 1 ff., 12 ; comp. Ex. xv. 25 ; xx. 20. 

3 Ex. iii. 18, 22 ; xi. 2 f. ; xii. 35 f. 

* Gen. xxxi. 19, 30 ff, * \ Sam. xix. 13, 16. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 4. COVENANT OF JEHOVAH. ■ 29 

mentioned in the same connection and placed upon the 
same level. 1 The worship of the brazen serpent was 
also long continued in Israel, and finally condemned as 
idolatry ; 2 it was the same with the calves prepared in 
honor of Jehovah. This is the way in which these last 
are represented, Ex. xxxii. 4 f. Jeroboam also doubt- 
less set up the two calves at Bethel and Dan in honor 
of Jehovah, although it was later regarded only as an 
act of idolatry. 3 

If, as we saw at the beginning of this paragraph, one 
may say that the first commandment of the decalogue 
may be Mosaic, we now see, at the end of it, that 
one may seriously doubt whether the second, which 
absolutely forbids the worship of images, can be so 
ancient. For even a David had sacred images in his 
house, and used them in consulting Jehovah, which 
would be inexplicable if, in his day, the second com- 
mandment was a fundamental law of the religion of 
Israel. 



§ 4. THE COVENANT OF JEHOVAH WITH ISEAEL, 

In the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, document A re- 
lates how Jehovah made a covenant with Abraham, the 
father of the faithful. Farther on it tells how the cove- 
nant between Jehovah and the people Israel was 
solemnly confirmed through the mediation of Moses at 
Sinai. 4 The detailed explanation of this important 

1 Jud. xvii. 5; xviii. 11 II'.. 30. ; viii. 27 ; IIos. iii. 4; comp. Zech. 
x. 2 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 24. 

- Num. xxi. 6 H'. ; 2 Kings xviii. I. 

15 1 Kings xii. 28 if. ; 2 Kings x. 20 ; xvii. 10 ; com]). IIos. viii. 5 I'.; 
x. f>. * Ex. xix.-xxiv. 



30 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

point, taken from one of the sources, is followed by a 
second and briefer one, derived from another source. 1 

It should be noticed that we have here very old por- 
tions of document A, based perhaps on written docu- 
ments still older, at all events on ancient traditions. The 
idea of the covenant between Jehovah and Israel is of 
very ancient date. It is certainly as old as Moses, the 
founder of the Jsraelitish theocracy, since there is no 
later epoch to be found at which it could have arisen. 2 
In the book of Judges, and those of Samuel, even in the 
oldest passages that they contain, like the song of Debo- 
rah, Jehovah is everywhere regarded as the God of 
Israel, and Israel as the people of Jehovah. This idea 
is found, from the start, as a fundamental feature of the 
teaching of the prophets. It appears on every page 
of the Old Testament. We must, then, even in this 
period, show in what the covenant of Jehovah with 
Israel consists, and what are its essential characteristics. 

On the part of Jehovah, the covenant with Israel is 
simply a gratuitous favor, a free and spontaneous act. 
It is Jehovah who takes the initiative in it, and not 
Israel. According even to document A, God caused the 
children of Israel to be told at the time when he made 
a covenant with them, that, while the whole earth be- 
longed to him, he took them from among all the peoples 
of the earth that he might make them his peculiar peo- 
ple. 3 But the gratuitousness of this favor is even more 
strongly emphasized in Deuteronomy. 4 

1 Ex. xxxiv. 10-28. 

2 Reuss, Gesch., § 69 ; Vatke, pp. 184 ff., 238 ; [Kuenen, Beligion of 
Israel, I. pp. 292 f.]. 

a Ex. xix. 5. 4 iv. 37 f. ; vii. G-viii. 8, 17 f. ; x. 14 f. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 4. COVENANT OF JEHOVAH. 31 

The relations established between Jehovah and his 
people as the result of this covenant are described in 
various ways. First of all, this people thus becomes the 
people of Jehovah, his property, 1 his inheritance, 2 over 
which he wishes to rule as master, as king. 3 Oehler 
justly remarks that when Jehovah, in making a cove- 
nant with Israel, requires that they be a holy people 
and a kingdom of priests, this implies the thought that 
the people Israel must be separated from all the other 
peoples, and that they must be consecrated to him, be- 
long to him. 4 There are passages of document A and 
of others that express this thought with great pre- 
cision, 5 a thought which is the essence of the term 
sanctity when it is applied to men and things in the 
Old Testament. 6 Mention should also be made of the 
fact that Israel was prohibited from making covenants 
with the other peoples. 7 

The relation between Jehovah and Israel, by virtue of 
their covenant, is secondly regarded as that between 
a father and his children. Jehovah is the father of the 
people, inasmuch as he has conquered, formed, created 
them, or will do so to them in the future. 8 Jehovah is 

1 Jud. v. 11 ; Ex. xv. 1G ; xix. 5 f . ; vi. 7 ; Num. xvi. 41 ; Deut. vii. 
; xiv. 2 ; xxvi. 18. 

2 Ex. xxxiv. ; 1 Sam. x. 1 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 10 ; xx. 19 ; xxi. 3 ; Mic. 
vii. 14, 18 ; Deut. xxxii. 9; iv. 20 ; ix. 20, 20, etc. 

:i Deut. xxxiii. i") ; Jud. viii. 23 ; 1 Sam. viii. 5-7 ; Mic. ii. 1.3 ; iv. 7 ; 
Isa. vi. ") ; xxxiii. 22, etc. 4 § 82. 

5 Ex. xix. 4-0 ; xxii. .31 ; Lev. xx. 24-20 ; Deut. vii. ; xiv. 2 ; 
xxvi. 18 f. 

a Baudissin, II. pp. 40 If., 01 if. ; [ \V. R. Smith, Prophets, pp. 221 11.]. 

7 Ex. xxiii. 32 ; xxxiv. 11 f. ; Deut. vii. 1 11. 

8 Deut. xxxii. 0; Jer. iii. 4, 19; xxxi. 9; Isa. lxiii. 1(> ; lxiv. S; 
Mai. i. ; ii. 10. 



32 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

often said to have borne his people, to have formed 
and created them. 1 This he did when he brought 
Israel, his son, from bondage in Egypt, 2 then after this 
painful delivery, when he nourished and reared him. 3 
By bearing and forming his people, Jehovah acquired 
a right to them as a father acquires one to a son, a 
favorite, a first-born son. 4 

In a third series of passages, the relation existing 
between Jehovah and Israel is compared with the con- 
jugal tie, Jehovah being the husband, and Israel the 
wife — unfortunately very often an unfaithful wife, whom 
the husband may accuse of unfaithfulness, adultery, 
prostitution, and whom he has the right to divorce. 5 In 
numerous passages, idolatry, the worship of foreign 
gods, consisting in giving one's self to these gods 
and being unfaithful to Jehovah, is treated as prosti- 
tution. 6 

Finally, there are passages in which the Israelites are 
individually called the servants of Jehovah, 7 and others 
in which Israel is collectively regarded as the servant 
of the God, who chose them for his peculiar people. 8 
Jehovah is also generally addressed as the Lord. 

The various relations established between Jehovah 

i Dent, xxxii. 18 ; Hos. viii. 14 ; Isa. xliii. 1, 7, 15, 21 ; etc. 

2 Ex. iv. 22 f . ; Hos. xi. 1 ; comp. xii. 9 ; xiii. 4. 

3 Hos. xi. 3 ; Isa. i. 2 ; xlvi. 3 ; Deut. i. 31 ; viii. 5. 

4 Ex. iv. 22 ; Jer. xxxi. 9, 20 ; comp. Hos. i. 10. 

5 Hos. i.-iii. ; Jer. ii. 20 ; iii. 1, 8, 20 ; Ezek. xvi. ; xxiii. ; Isa. liv. 
5 f. ; lxii. 5. 

e Ex. xxxiv. 15 f. ; Jud. ii. 17 ; Hos. iv. 15 ; v. 3 f. ; vi. 10 ; ix. 1 ; 
Jer. ii. 23-25 ; iii. 8 ff. ; xiii. 27 ; etc. 

7 Dent, xxxii. 36, 43 ; Lev. xxv. 42, 55 ; 1 Kings viii. 32, 3G ; etc. 

8 Jer. xxx. 10; xlvi. 27 f. ; Eze. xxviii. 25; xxxvii. 25; Isa. xli. 
8f. ; xiii. 19; xliii. 10; etc. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 4. COVENANT OF JEHOVAH. 33 

and Israel imply, on the part of God, authority, inas- 
much as he is king, father, husband, and lord of Israel ; 
they imply also his love and faithfulness. The condi- 
tion of Israel, as people, son, wife, and servant of Jeho- 
vah, on the other hand, implies respectful, docile, 
humble obedience, as well as gratitude, love, and faith- 
fulness. These respective rights and duties of Jehovah 
and his people are expressed in a great variety of forms, 
which will be considered hereafter. 

While we are discussing the essential characteristics 
of the old covenant, we must further remark that this 
covenant concerns the people Israel as a people. The 
individual is almost completely overshadowed by the 
nation. Nothing is more foreign to the general tone of 
the Old Testament than our modern individualism. 
One became a member of the old covenant, not by per- 
sonal adherence, but by birth, by descent from the 
fathers, and by circumcision. 

This prime sacrament of the old covenant, being 
bestowed only upon male children, evidently implies 
a superiority of men over women ; the true Israel is 
composed of the stronger sex. Heads of families played 
the leading part. That a family should be Israelite, it 
was only essential that its head should be such; its 
other members were of only secondary importance in 
all respects, and therefore also in matters of religion. 

Individualism, however, finds partial satisfaction in 
the conditions and obligations that every Israelite must 
fulfil in order to partake in the benefits of the covenant, 
in the privileges granted by Jehovah to his people. 
These conditions and obligations, which the people 
Israel had to agree faithfully to fulfil, when Jehovah 



34 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

made a covenant with them, 1 we shall have to discuss 
more in detail in various parts of our work. 

The above discussion shows that the covenant be- 
tween Jehovah and Israel has justly been called a syn- 
allagmatic contract, implying reciprocal obligations 
between the two contracting parties, faithfulness on the 
part of God, who chose his people out of sheer grace, as 
well as on the part of the people graciously chosen. 
Hence the essentially moral basis of the old covenant, 
and its superiority over all the other religions of an- 
tiquity. This covenant, also, in spite of its particu- 
larism, and all the imperfections that it contained, was 
capable of remarkable development, and of final comple- 
tion in the new covenant established by the gospel. 



§ 5. ETHICAL LIFE. 

If we wish to describe the ethical ideal that was 
formed in our period, we have only to allow ourselves 
to be guided by the oldest legislation. But we may 
also take into account the great figures, more or less 
idealized, of the patriarchal and the following epochs, 
as they are represented in the oldest documents ; for 
they bear the visible stamp of ancient Israelitish 
morals ; are, as it were, the reflex of them. 

The most perfect portrait of the patriarchal epoch is 
that of Abraham. It is evident that to this father of 
the people Israel, with whom God made the first special 
covenant, were attributed all the virtues of a true Israelite. 
Abraham, it is said, observed all the commands of God, 2 

1 Ex. xix. 5-8 ; xxiv. 3, 7. ' 2 Gen. xxvi. 5. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 5. ETHICAL LIFE. 35 

commanded his house to keep the way of Jehovah, to 
practise justice. 1 He is a perfect model of confidence 
in God and obedience to him. 2 In his relations with 
his equals he shows a spirit of peace, charity, and disin- 
terestedness. 3 He gives proof of courage when he is 
called upon to succor a brother ; 4 he practises hospital- 
ity toward strangers; 5 he shows compassion for the 
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah when they are 
threatened with destruction. 6 

Next to Abraham, David is the most ideal figure of 
the Old Testament, the model for kings after God's 
own heart, the type of the Messiah, of the perfect 
king of the glorious era of the last days. Even as a 
young man, he seems animated by the most complete 
confidence in God. 7 He is submissive to Jehovah and 
filled with a genuine spirit of prayer. 8 He shows him- 
self repentant after his faults 9 and grateful for the 
favors of God. 10 He is imbued with a tender and faith- 
ful friendship for Jonathan. 11 He gives proof of gen- 
erosity toward Saul, his enemy, and of reverence for 
the anointed of Jehovah. 12 It is with the profoundest 
sorrow that he hears of the death of his rebellious son, 13 
or sees the people punished on his account. 14 He inspires 
his soldiers with the spirit of justice. 15 

1 Gen. xviii. 10. 2 Gen. xii. 1 ff. ; xv. 6 ; xxii. 1 ff. 

8 Gen. xiii. 7-0; comp. xiv. 21-24. 

4 Gen. xiv. 13 ff. : ' Gen. xviii. 2 ff. ; comp. xix. 1 ff. 

6 Gen. xviii. 23 ff. i 1 Sam. xvii. 34 ff., 45 ff. 

8 2 Sam. vii. ; xv. 25 f. ; xvi. 11 ; xxiv. 14. 

9 2 Sam. xii. 1-23 ; xxiv. 10 ff., 17. 10 2 Sam. xxii. 

11 1 Sam. xviii. 3 ; xx. 8, 10, 12 ; xxiii. 10-18 ; 2 Sam. i. 20. 

12 1 Sam. xxiv. ; xxvi. ,:! 2 Sam. xix. 1 ff. 

14 2 Sam. xxiv. 17. i & 1 Sam. xxx. 21 25. 



36 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

This ethical ideal of the ancient Israelites is, how- 
ever, far from perfect. The patriarchs use deception 
toward the stranger, as if it were a lawful practice. 1 
Polygamy is not considered an evil, 2 nor intemperance 
in eating and drinking a vice. 3 Great license in morals 
is tolerated. 4 Barbarity is practised in Avar, and gener- 
ally toward adversaries, as the case of David himself 
proves. 5 Suicide does not appear culpable. 6 

In spite of polygamy, which was freely practised, 
marriage was regarded with profound respect, 7 and 
woman was greatly honored; it is only necessary to 
recall the fact that from remote antiquity there were 
prophetesses to be found in Israel. 8 According to Gen. 
xxiv. the relations between masters and servants were 
excellent. 

We pass now to the oldest legal fragments; namely, 
Ex. xx.-xxiii. and xxxiv. 11-26. At the beginning of 
the former is found the decalogue, reproduced, with 
some variations, Deut. v. It must be very ancient, at 
least in its original tenor. This may be approximately 
reached by removing the portions that differ, in the two 
recensions, and clearly appear to be later additions. 
The decalogue by no means contains the whole of 

1 Gen. xii. 12 ff. ; xx. 1 ff. ; xxvi. 7 ff. ; comp. xxvii. 6 ff. 

2 Gen. xvi. ; xxii. 24 ; xxv. 6 ; xxvi. 34 ; xxviii. 9 ; xxix. f . ; xxxvi. 
2, 12 ; Jud. viii. 30. 

3 Gen. ix. 21, 21 ; xliii. 31 ; 2 Sam. xi. 13. 

4 Gen. xxxviii. 15 ff. ; Jud. xvi. 1, 4 ; comp. xi. 1. 

5 Jud. i. 6 ; iii. 20-22 ; iv. 17 ff. ; v. 24 ff. ; viii. 16 f. ; ix. 5, 40 ; 
xii. 6 ; xviii. 27 f. ; xxi. 10 f. ; 1 Sam. xxv. 10-13 ; xxxiv. 30 ; xxvii. 
ff. ; 2 Sam. iii. 27 ; viii. 2 ; xii. 31 ; 1 Kings ii. 5 f., 8 f. ; xi. 15 f. 

e Jud. ix. 54 ; xvi. 20 ff. ; 1 Sam. xxxi. 4 ff. ; 2 Sam. xvii. 23. 
" Gen. xii. 16 ff. ; xx. 3 ff. ; xxvi. 10 f. 
8 Jud. iv. 4 ; Ex, xv. 20 ; 2 Kings xxii. 11. 



FIRST PERIOD. § 5. ETHICAL LIFE. 37 

Christian ethics as certain modern catechisms would 
have it. But even taken in its literal sense, it is a 
wonderful production for the epoch to which it belongs. 
Its precepts are often elsewhere reproduced in the Old 
Testament, which clearly proves that we here have to 
do with the fundamental laws of Israel. 

Jehovah after having reminded his people that he is 
their God, and that he delivered them from bondage in 
Egypt, forbids them to worship other gods besides him. 1 
This is the prime law of the old covenant. The whole 
Old Testament teaches that the greatest unfaithfulness 
of which Israel could be guilty was the abandonment of 
Jehovah, to become a devotee of idolatry. The deca- 
logue forbids, in the second place, the making of images 
to worship. 2 The profanation of the sacred name of 
Jehovah by taking a false oath, or any bad use of it 
whatever, is next prohibited. 3 These three prohibitions 
are followed by two positive commands : one ordains 
that the Sabbath, the holiday far excellence, be sancti- 
fied, kept sacred, apart from other days, and not devoted 
to manual labor; 4 the other requires that fathers and 
mothers be honored. 5 The place assigned to this com- 
mand, immediately after those touching duties to God, 
si iows its importance. The remainder of the decalogue 
consists merely of a series of prohibitions. The first 
forbids murder; 6 life, from the Israelitish point of view, 
being the most precious of blessings. Next to his life 
man's greatest treasure is his wife. 7 This is the reason 
why the prohibition of murder is followed by that of 
adultery. 8 Then comes the prohibition of theft, forbid- 

1 Ex. xx. 2 f. - vv. I f. '■' v. 7 : see Dillmann. • vv. 8 IT. 
6 v. L2. G v. L3. 7 Comp. Gen. ii. 23 f. Mix. xx. 1 1. 



38 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ding one to lay one's hand upon the property of a neigh- 
bor. 1 But one has no more right to do violence to the 
life or property of one's neighbor by words than by acts. 
Hence the prohibition of false testimony, in case of legal 
proceedings. 2 Finally, since bad words and actions 
proceed from bad desires, these also are forbidden. 3 
For contrary to the supposition of many since Luther's 
day, reference is here made to covetousness, and not 
simply to external but indirect means of getting pos- 
session of others' goods. 4 

There is good reason for dividing the decalogue into 
duties of piety, toward God and parents, and duties of 
probity, toward neighbors. The whole thing is admi- 
rably conceived. It begins with the most exalted duties, 
those toward God, then mentions the duties toward 
parents, and closes with those toward other men. In 
this last series the duty toward life, the most precious 
of blessings, is found at the beginning, as in the first 
series, the fundamental duty toward God. Life and 
woman deserve especial mention ; the other blessings 
receive only secondary consideration. There is also in 
these last an admirable gradation, in that bad actions 
toward one's neighbor are first prohibited, then bad 
words, and finally bad desires. 

It is not necessary to pass in review all the other 
laws of document A above mentioned. Each one can 
make a study of them for himself. Any one who care- 
fully reads all this primitive legislation of Israel will 
notice that it is very simple ; that, like the decalogue, 
of which it is in part only a development, it enjoins 
above all the chief duties toward God and one's neigh- 
1 v. 15. 2 v. 10. 3 v. 17. 4 See Dillmann. 



FIRST PERIOD. § 6. WORSHIP. 39 

bor. The ceremonial laws are here neither numerous 
nor complicated. It is humanitarian laws that pre- 
dominate. This legislation goes so far as to enjoin 
kindness toward enemies ; 1 the lex talionis that it pro- 
mulgates 2 is a juridical regulation, and not a rule for 
the conduct of private life. It also enjoins justice 
toward the stranger, charity toward the poor, fair- 
ness and mildness toward slaves and servants, 3 and 
even consideration for animals. 4 



§ 6. WOKSHIP. 

I. Places of Worship. 

Primitively there was great freedom in Israel in the 
matter of places of worship. The oldest documents of 
the Pentateuch also tell us that the patriarchs reared 
altars, to sacrifice to God and call upon him, wherever 
they happened to be. 5 Moses and Joshua followed this 
custom. 6 In the days of the judges, the children of 
Israel offer sacrifices at Bokim ; 7 Gideon builds an 
altar to Jehovah at Ophra ; 8 he offers a sacrifice on a 
rock ; 9 Manoah does the same ; 10 Micah has a private 
sanctuary. 11 At the same time we find sacred places at 

1 Ex. xxiii. 4 f. 2 Ex. xxi. 23-25. 

3 Ex. xx. 10 ; xxi. 1-11 ; xxii. 21-27 ; xxiii. 0, 9, 11 f. 

4 Ex. xx. 10 ; xxiii. 11 f. 

6 Gen. viii. 20; xii. 7 f. ; xiii. 3 f., 18; xxi. 33; xxii. 9, 13; xxvi. 
25; xxviii. 18-22 ; xxxiii. 20 ; xxxv. 1-3, 7 ; xlvi. 1. 

8 Ex. xvii. 15 ; xviii. 12 ; xxiv. I ; Drill, xxvii. 4 ff. ; Josh. viii. 30 f. ; 
xx iv. 1, 25 f. 

7 Jud. ii. 5. * Jud. vi.24. '•> Jud. vi. 25 II'. 
10 Jud. xiii. 19. u Jud. xvii. 5, 10-13. 



40 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Mispah, 1 Shiloh, 2 Bethel, 3 and Gibeah. 4 Samuel offers 
sacrifices indifferently at Mispah, Ramah, Gilgal, and 
Bethlehem. 5 Saul rears altars and offers sacrifices at 
various places. 6 From this time until the erection of 
Solomon's temple, these same sacred places and others 
serve as sanctuaries for the worship of Jehovah, David 
and Solomon in this respect following the traditional 
usage. 7 

In some of the passages cited the places of worship 
are called high places. They were in fact places, 
naturally or artificially raised, such as are found among 
Semitic peoples generally. 8 This worship at high-places 
was continued even after the erection of the temple 
under the most faithful kings. 9 The prophet Elijah re- 
builds the altar on Mount Carmel, and offers sacrifices on 
it. 10 He complains that numerous altars consecrated to 
Jehovah in the country have been destroyed. 11 Elisha 
allows Namaan to carry the soil of Canaan into Syria, for 
the purpose of rearing there an altar and offering sacri- 
fices to Jehovah. 12 Isaiah expresses the hope that, in the 
future, the Egyptians will turn to Jehovah and rear an 
altar to him in their country and offer him sacrifices. 13 
It is therefore certain that in Israel a multiplicity of 

1 Jucl. xi. 11 ; xx. 1 ; xxi. 1, 5, 8 ; 1 Sam. vii. 5 ff . ; x. 17 ff. 

2 Jud. xviii. 31 ; xxi. 19 ; 1 Sam. i. -iv. 

3 Jud. xx. 18, 23, 26 f. ; xxi. 2, 4 ; 1 Sam. x. 3. 4 1 Sam. x. 5. 

5 1 Sam. vii. 7, 9, 17 ; ix. 12 f. ; x. 8 ; xi. 14 f. ; xvi. 4 f. ; comp. 
xv. 33. 6 1 Sam. xiii. 9 f. ; xiv. 31 f. 

" 1 Sam. xv. 21 ; xx. 6, 28 f. ; xxi. 1 ff. ; xxii. 9 ff. ; 2 Sam. v. 3 ; 
xv. 7 ff. ; xxi. 6, 9 ; xxiv. 18, 25 ; 1 Kings i. 9 ; iii. 2 ff. 

s Baudissin, II. pp. 232 ff. ; [Schultz, I. pp. 200 f.]. 

9 1 Kings xv. 14 ; xxii. 44 ; 2 Kings xii. 3 ; xiv. 4 ; xv. 4, 34 f. 

J 1 1 Kings xviii. 30 ff. » 1 Kings xix. 10, 14. 

12 2 Kings v. 17. 13 Isa. xix. 18 ff. ; comp. Zeph. ii. 11. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 41 

places of worship was long perfectly lawful, or, as we now 
say, orthodox, since the most faithful kings and even 
the prophets gave it their approval. The unfavorable 
criticism on this subject that we find in the books of 
Kings and Chronicles should not lead us astray: this criti- 
cism is, as we shall see, made from a later point of view. 
The freedom to establish places of worship at different 
points at the same time, is hallowed even by the oldest 
legislation, for in it Jehovah is made to say that wher- 
ever his name is invoked, altars of rough stone should 
be reared that sacrifices may be offered to him. 1 The at- 
tempt has been made to bring this ordinance into har- 
mony with the later legislation, which requires absolute 
centralization of worship, by maintaining that, in the 
passage quoted, reference is made to the various places 
where the portable sanctuary and its altar, of which this 
legislation speaks, may from time to time be established. 
But this altar is of wood, ornamented with brass ; 2 
while our passage speaks of an altar of stones and allows 
such an altar to be reared in several places at the same 
time. The best commentary on this text is the custom, 
that, as we have shown, existed in Israel until toward 
the Exile. It is clearly this ancient usage, and not the 
centralization of worship, first required by Deuter- 
onomy, that is most in harmony with the spirit of 
Mosaism. The primitive liberty respecting places of 
worship was, moreover, very natural and legitimate, 
since it corresponded to a real religious need. Ewald 
lias with some justice connected Ex. xx. 24 f., which 
hallows this ancient usage, witli the promise of the 

1 Ex. xx. 24 f. 2 Ex. xxvii. 1 f. ; xxxviii. 30 ; xxxix. 39. 



42 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

gospel : " Where two or three are gathered in my name, 
I will be in the midst of them." * 

The absolute centralization of worship that was legally 
sanctioned in the period following, nevertheless has its 
roots in the earliest history of Israel. According to 
document A, there was, even in the desert, a central 
tabernacle. 2 It was a tent that sheltered the ark of the 
covenant, whose existence since this date is proven by 
the same document. 3 In the days of the judges we 
find the ark at Bethel and Shiloh. 4 In serious wars the 
Israelites carried it about in their camp, that Jehovah, 
being present in the midst of the army, might the better 
lend them his assistance. 5 Wherever the ark happened 
to be, sacrifices might be offered to Jehovah, 6 Before it 
prayer was made to God. 7 When David wished to 
establish a national sanctuary at Jerusalem, he felt the 
necessity of transporting thither the sacred ark, 8 and 
the temple of Solomon itself acquired a sacred and 
national character only through its presence. 9 The 
above discussion, then, shows that from the time of 
Moses the ark of the covenant served as a rallying point 
for all Israel. The later codes were able to find support 
in this fact for presenting the centralization of worship 
as Mosaic. 

1 Antiquities of Israel, p. 121. 

2 Ex. xxxiii. 7 ff. ; xxxiv. 34 f. ; Num. xii. 5, 10. 

3 Num. x. 33-36; xiv. 44 ; Deut. x. 8 ; Josh. iii. f. ; vi. ; vii. 6. 
* Jud. xx. 26 f. ; 1 Sam. iii. 3 ; iv. 3 f. 

5 1 Sam. iv. ; xiv. 18 ; 2 Sam. xi. 11 ; Com. xv. 24. 

6 1 Sam. vi. 14 ff. ; 2 Sam. vi. 13, 17 ; 1 Kings viii. 5. 

7 Josh. vii. 6 ff. 3 2 Sam. vi. 
9 1 Kinss viii. 1 ff. 



FIRST PERIOD. — §6. WORSHIP. 43 

II. The Priesthood. 

The same freedom that originally existed with refer- 
ence to places of worship, existed also with reference 
to the priesthood. Let ns see what early Hebrew liter- 
ature teaches us on this point. 

According to document A, among the first men and 
in the da}-s of the patriarchs, it is the father of the 
family who exercises the functions of a priest. 1 Moses 
also fulfils these functions. 2 In offering sacrifices, at 
the time of the establishment of the covenant with 
Jehovah, he calls to his assistance young men chosen 
from among the children of Israel, 3 and probably from 
all the tribes. This freedom of usage continued. Gid- 
eon and Manoah offer sacrifices to Jehovah, 4 and Saul 
does likewise. 5 When David has the sacred ark trans- 
ported to Jerusalem, he wears the sacerdotal costume, 
offers sacrifices, and blesses the people. 6 ' Solomon also 
fulfils sacerdotal functions, 7 likewise the prophet Elijah. 8 
Jeroboam and Ahaz, therefore, in assuming them in 
their turn, 9 do nothing unlawful from the traditional 
point of view. The editor of the books of Kings finds 
fault with them because he takes the later standpoint 
of the legislation of Deuteronomy, which, as we shall 
see farther on, condemns any but a Levitical priesthood. 

1 Gen. iv. 3 f. ; viii. 20 ; xii. 7 f. ; xiii. 4, 18 ; xv. 9 ; xxii. 1 if. ; 
xxvi. 25; xxxv. 1 ff. ; xlvi. 1. 

2 Ex. xxiv. G-8 ; com]), xvii. 15. :; Ex. xxiv. 4 f. 
4 Jud. vi. 20 ff. ; xiii. 10 ff. 

6 1 Sam. xiii. Off. ; comp. xiv. 34 f. c 2 Sam. vi. 

7 1 Kings iii. 4 ; viii. 14, 54 If., 02 ff. ; ix. 25 ; x. 5. 

8 1 Kings xviii. 22 if., 30 IT. 

9 1 Kings xii. 32-xiii. 1 IT. ; 2 Bongs xvi. 12 f. 



44 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The universal priesthood, however, is not merely a 
matter of practice at the beginning, in Israel. In a 
passage from document A it is represented as the nor- 
mal institution. In fact, Ave read, Ex. xix. 6, that 
when he established his covenant with the children of 
Israel, Jehovah caused it to be said to them : " Ye shall 
be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 
All Israelites, therefore, were to be servants conse- 
crated to Jehovah, having free access to his presence. 1 
Nevertheless, priests early make their appearance in 
Israel as among all other peoples of antiquity. But 
originally the priesthood does not form a separate cast, 
is not the prerogative of a single family. Document A 
speaks of Melchisedek, a priest of the most-high God, 
whose authority was recognized by Abraham ; 2 of Jethro, 
the priest of Midian, whose claim to the office is allowed 
by Aaron and the elders of Israel ; 3 and of Israelitish 
priests. 4 Did these last belong to the tribe of Levi? 
There is no indication to this effect. On the contrary, 
it must be observed that the Pentateuchal documents 
which speak of the institution of the Levitical priest- 
hood place this ceremony later. In the book of Judges, 
an Ephraimite consecrates his son to be priest in his 
own private sanctuary. 5 He afterwards, when the occa- 
sion presents itself, replaces him by a Levite, whom he 
himself also consecrates for his sacerdotal functions ; 6 
but this Levite does not belong to the sacred tribe; he 
is a Levite only by virtue of his functions, since the 
statement is expressly made that he was of the family 

i See Dillmann, U. 2 Gen. xiv. 18-20. 

3 Ex. ii. 16 ; iii. 1 ; xviii. 12. 4 Ex. xix. 22, 24. 

5 xvii. 1-5. G vv. 10, 12 f. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 45 

of Judali. 1 When the sacred ark is brought back from 
the country of the Philistines and deposited at Kirjath- 
jearim, in the house of Abinadab, the people of the 
place consecrate the son of this latter to guard it. 2 
Samuel is devoted from his infancy to the service of the 
sanctuary, 3 and he later fulfils the functions of a priest, 4 
although he belongs neither to a sacerdotal family nor 
to the tribe of Levi, 5 as was finally claimed for the sake 
of justifying his priestly acts from the later standpoint. 6 
We find other priests who are not Levites: a Jairite, 7 
a son of Nathan the prophet, 8 even sons of David. 9 
There are, it is true, translators who, in the last three 
cases, change the priests into officers or ministers of 
state, but this is an error. When, therefore, Jeroboam 
ordained priests who were not Levites, 10 he simply fol- 
lowed ancient custom, sanctioned by the most faithful 
theocrats. 

Although, at first, every Israelite might become a 
priest of Jehovah, we early perceive a tendency to pre- 
fer as priests members of the tribe of Levi. Document 
A itself relates that the sons of Levi were consecrated 
in a special manner to the service of Jehovah by the 
massacre which, at Moses' command, they wrought 
among the Israelites who had worshipped the golden 
calf. 11 According to another passage of the same docu- 
ment, which, however, is evidently borrowed from a 
different source, the tribe of Levi was not set apart for 

I Jud. xvii. 7. 2 1 Sam. vii. 1. 3 i Sain. i. IT. 
1 1 Sam. vii. <) f. ; ix. 12 f. ; x. 8 ; xvi. :>. & 1 Sam. i. 1 ; ii. 19. 
1 Clir. vi. 28, 33. 

7 2 Sam. xx. 20 ; comp. Num. xxxii. 11 ; Deut. iii. 14 ; Jud. x. .') f!'. 

8 1 Kings iv. 5. 9 2 Sam. viii. 18. 

10 1 Kings xii. :51 ; xiii. '■):) ; comp. 2 Kings xvii. 32. 

II Ex. xxxii. 20-20 ; com]). Gen. xxxiv. 25 f. 



46 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the service of Jehovah until after the death of Aaron. 1 
The old song, Gen. xlix., it is true, does not speak 
very favorably of Levi, 2 probably because it was com- 
posed at a date before the tribe of Levi played an im- 
portant part; but another song, of a more recent date, 
though relatively ancient, speaks favorably of this 
tribe, and expressly connects it with the priesthood, 3 
as does also 1 Sam. ii. 27 ff. From the time of the 
judges we see Levites, but more particularly descend- 
ants of Moses and Aaron, exercising sacerdotal func- 
tions at certain sanctuaries. 4 It appears from 1 Sam. 
ii. 27 ff. that the priest Eli belonged to the tribe of 
Levi. We see, moreover, that the priest Ahijah, who 
was in Saul's train, 5 the numerous sacerdotal family of 
Nob, 6 Abiathar and Zadok, the chief priests of David, 7 
were descended from Eli through Ahitub, 8 and that, 
consequently, they were all of the tribe of Levi. Since 
Solomon, though he dismissed Abiathar, 9 retained Zadok 
in his office, 10 and the descendants of this latter still 
held the priesthood in Jerusalem at the time of the 
Exile, it may be admitted that, beginning with David, 
it was the Levites who chiefly occupied the priesthood 
at Jerusalem. There are, however, those who deny 
that Zadok was a descendant of Eli and therefore of 
Aaron and Levi. 11 

1 Deut. x. 6-9. 2 Gen. xlix. 5 ff. 3 Deut. xxxiii. 8-11. 

4 Jud. xviii. 30 f. ; xx 2G-28. 5 1 Sam. xiv. 18. 
e 1 Sam. xxi. 1 ff. ; xxii. if. 

' 2 Sam. viii. 17 ; xv. 24 ff., 35 f. ; xvii. 15 ; xix. 11 ff. ; xx. 25 ; 
1 Kings i. 7 ff. 

8 1 Sam. xiv. 3 ; xxii. 20 ; 2 Sam. viii. 17. 9 1 Kings ii. 26 f . 
io 1 Kings if. 35. u Vatke, pp. 344 f. ; Wellhausen, pp. 125 f. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 47 

III. Religious Festivals. 

1. The Sabbath. — There is a passage in document A 
that presupposes the existence of the Sabbath before the 
promulgation of the law. 1 The oldest legislation and 
even the decalogue itself enjoin the observance of it. 2 
The Sabbath is perhaps the earliest holiday of the He- 
brews. At any rate it was of ancient origin, and it 
always remained the holiday par excellence. Reuss says 
on this subject: "The notion of the week with its holi- 
day doubtless dates from the remotest antiquity. We 
no longer hesitate to recognize its astronomic origin, 
that is, to connect it with what the ancient peoples 
called the seven planets." 3 Dillmann expresses himself 
to the same purpose. He thinks, however, with others, 
that the four phases of the moon must have given origin 
to the week ; 4 which Reuss finds not impossible, but im- 
probable, " in view of the actual duration of the astro-' 
nomic month, which is twenty-nine and a half days." 

This primitive character of the Sabbath, however, no 
longer appears in Hebrew literature. According to the 
whole Old Testament the Sabbath is essentially a day 
of rest. This is clearly expressed in the various codes 
of the Pentateuch, including the oldest, 5 and it harmo- 
nizes with the word Sabbath, which means rest. Still 
the Sabbath cannot have received this significance until 
the Israelites ceased to be nomadic shepherds, to become 

1 Ex. xvi. 27-P>0. 2 e x _ xx> g ff. ; xxiii. 12 ; xxxiv. 21. 

3 Histoire Sainte, T. p. 121 ; comp. Gesch. § 71 ; [Schrader, Cunei- 
form Inscriptions ami the Old Testament (KAT) on Gen. ii. 3. 

4 See on Ex. xx. 8 ff. 

5 Ex. xx. 10 ; xxiii. 12 ; xxxiv. 21 ; xxi. 13 IT. ; Deut. v. 14* 



48 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

an agricultural people. For "the shepherd knows no 
Sabbath in this sense, although it was doubtless he who 
first observed the heavens and distinguished the fixed 
stars from the planets. His flock needs care and food, 
and must be led to water one day as well as another; 
his kind of occupation is the same the year through. 
The requirement of absolute rest does not date from the 
time when the Israelites were nomads." 1 

What the ancient documents emphasize most is the 
humanitarian side of the Sabbath. Its chief end is to 
provide rest for slaves and domestic animals. 2 Even 
in Deuteronomy we find the same point of view. The 
Sabbath is there connected with the memory of the de- 
liverance from slavery in Egypt ; but the thought of the 
Deuteronomist is evidently this : Israel should remem- 
ber that they were slaves in Egypt and that Jehovah 
delivered them, that they may, on this day, give rest 
to their slaves as well as themselves. 3 

2. The New Moon. — The first of the [lunar] month 
seems to have been a holiday in Israel from remote an- 
tiquity. We see that every new moon Saul invited his 
principal servants to his table. 4 These repasts evidently 
had a religious character, since Levitical impurity might 
exclude one from them. 5 We see, moreover, that even 
in the old prophets, and always afterward, the new 
moon is placed upon the same level with the Sabbath 
and other festivals. 6 

1 Reuss, Histoire Sainte, I. p. 122 ; [Sclmltz, I. p. 205]. 

2 Ex. xxiii. 10 ; xxxiv. 21 ; comp. xx. 10. 

3 Deut. v. 14 f. ; comp. xv. 15. 4 1 Sam. xx. 5, 18, 24. 
5 1 Sam. xx. 20. 

G Amos viii. 5 ; IIos. ii. 11 ; Isa. i. 13 f. ; Ezek. xlv. 17 ; xlvi. 1, 3 ; Isa. 
lxvi. 23 ; 2 Kings iv. 23, etc. 



FIRST PERIOD. § 6. WORSHIP. 49 

The festival of the new moon is evidently an astro- 
nomic one. The Israelites were not able to stamp it 
with a theocratic character, as they did the other festi- 
vals originally borrowed from nature. The ancient 
codes say nothing at all about it. As this festival, 
however, existed in Israel from a very remote date, it 
is probable that it, like other religious acts and institu- 
tions, rests solely on the usage of antiquity in general ; 
for the new moon was celebrated among many other 
peoples by a great festival. 1 

In Israel the new moons were days of rest, 2 when the 
people assembled at the sanctuary, 3 and when they pre- 
ferred to go to consult the prophets. 4 This explains 
why the discourses of the prophets were sometimes 
inspired and delivered on these days. 5 

3. The Three Pilgrim Feasts. — Document A enjoins 
the celebration of three annual feasts, the feast of pass- 
over, or unleavened bread, that of weeks, or the first- 
fruits of the harvest, and that of the vintage at the end 
of the year; they are also called pilgrim feasts, because, 
for each of them, every male Israelite must betake him- 
self to the sanctuary to present himself before Jehovah. 6 
It Avas on the occasion of these solemnities that Solomon 
offered sacrifices three times a year to God. 7 It was 
probably also one of these feasts to which the father of 
Samuel went up to Shiloh every year to worship Jelio- 

1 Schenkel's Bibel-Lexikon, IV. p. 322 ; Riehm's Handioorterbuch, 

pp. 431, 1077 ; [Kwald, Antiquities, pp. 340 £.]. 

2 Amos viii. 5. 3 Isa. i. 13 I'.; Ezek. xlvi. 1, 3 ; Tsa, lxvi. 23. 

4 2 Kings iv. 23. 

5 Ezek. xxvi. 1 ; xxix. 17 ; xxxi. 1 ; xxxii. 1 ; Hag. i. 1. 

6 Ex. xxiii. 14-17 ; xxxiv. is, 22-24. 

7 1 Kings ix. 2b ; comp. 2 Chron. viii. 13. 



50 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

vah and offer him sacrifices, 1 and at which the family of 
David sacrificed in Bethlehem. 2 It appears from other 
passages that, from remote antiquity, the Israelites 
made a practice of celebrating feasts in honor of Jeho- 
vah, which seem to have been chiefly days of popular 
rejoicing. 3 Deuteronomy, like document A, mentions 
the three pilgrim feasts in the same connection. 4 

a. The Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread, in 
the Old Testament represented as a single festival, is 
certainly a union of two distinct feasts, an agricultural 
and a theocratic. It is even very probable that originally 
this feast also had an astronomical significance, that 
it was the spring festival found among most of the 
peoples of antiquity. 5 There is no longer any trace 
of this last feature of the feast of passover in Hebrew 
literature, but its agricultural significance appears in 
some passages, especially Lev. xxiii. 9-14. Here the 
offering of the first-fruits of the harvest is combined 
with the passover, and this offering is represented as 
intimately related to the feast to be celebrated seven 
weeks later, at the end of the harvest. This connection 
between the two feasts also crops out, Deut. xvi. 9, 
where it is apparent that the former coincides with the 
time when the sickle is put into the harvest. The cus- 
tom of eating unleavened bread seven days, which gave 

1 1 Sam. i. 3, 7, 21. 2 1 Sam. xx. 6, 29. 

3 Ex. v. 1 ; x. 9 ; xxxii. 5 f., 19 ; Jud. xxi. 19 fl ; 1 Kings xii. 32 f. ; 
Amos v. 21 ; viii. 10 ; Hos. ii. 11 ; ix. 5 ; Isa. i. 14 ; xxix. 1 ; xxx. 29 ; 
xxxiii. 20. 4 Chapter xvi. 

5 Dillmann, Bibel-Lexikon, II. p. 269 ; also Exodus u. Leviticus, 
p. 581 ; Handworterbuch, pp. 431 f., 1139 f. ; Keuss, Histoire Sainte, 
I. p. 164 ; also on Ex. xii. 2, and Gesch., §§ 68, 289 ; [Ewald, Antiquities, 
pp. 358 ff.]. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 51 

its name to the feast, as it is found in the oldest legal 
passages, 1 seems also to have sprung from the connec- 
tion of this feast with the commencement of the harvest. 2 
The feast of unleavened bread is combined with 
the feast of passover; but, in all our documents, the 
agricultural character of the former is almost entirely 
eclipsed by the theocratic character of the latter. The 
term pesach, which we render passover, means passage. 
Even document A is acquainted with it. 3 It declares 
that the passover is celebrated in honor of Jehovah, who 
passed over the dwellings of the children of Israel, and 
spared them when he smote Egypt. 4 This explanation 
is reproduced in document C. 5 Document A itself 
unites the feast of passover with the feast of unleavened 
bread, saying that the Israelites had to leave Egypt in 
so hurried a manner that they were obliged to take their 
dough before it was leavened and make cakes of it at 
the first stopping-place. 6 This explanation is not natu- 
ral. We learn, moreover, from Ex. xii. 8 (document 
C), that Moses gave orders beforehand to eat the pass- 
over with unleavened bread. We must, therefore, seek 
the reason for this custom in the agricultural character 
of the feast, or admit that fermentation was regarded 
by the Israelites as something impure. 7 In the latter 
case, the urgent injunction not to use leaven during the 
continuance of the feast would be perfectly explained, 8 

1 Ex. xxiii. 15 ; xxxiv. 18. 

2 Dillmann on Ex. xii. 20 ; also Bibel-Lexikon, IV. p. 387 ff. ; 
[Wellhausen, pp. 89 f.]. 

: Ex. xxxiv. 25. 4 Ex. xii. 27. c Ex. xii. 11-13. 

,; Ex. xii. 34, '■)'.) ; comp. Deut. xvi. '■). 

7 Lev. ii. 4 I - ., 1 1 f . ; coin]). Oehler, § 124„ 

8 Ex. xii 15, 19 ; xiii. 7 ; Deut. xvi. 4. 



52 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

as well as the strict prohibition against offering the 
blood of the sacrifice with fermented bread. 1 It doubt- 
less contributed to the identification of the two feasts 
that all the documents of the Pentateuch place the 
exodus from Egypt in the first month of the year, the 
month of ears, 2 in which occurred the feast of the com- 
mencement of the harvest and the feast of the spring- 
time. 3 

Document A commands the celebration of this double 
feast every year, for the purpose of perpetuating the 
memory of the exodus from Egypt, by eating unleav- 
ened bread seven daj T s, and, on the seventh day, observ- 
ing a special festival in honor of Jehovah. 4 It also 
enjoins that every male Israelite present himself before 
God with sacrifices, among which that of the passover 
occupies the first rank. 5 If Ex. xxiii. 19 and xxxiv. 26 
are to be closely connected with the verses preceding, 
if these passages mean that at the feast of the passover 
the first-fruits of the land must be brought to the sanc- 
tuary, as appears from Lev. xxiii. 9 ff., this is a new 
proof of the agricultural character of this feast. 

Deuteronomy agrees with these injunctions in their 
essential features ; but it gives them greater precision, 
ordaining that large and small cattle be offered in the 
evening, from the beginning of the feast, in sacrifice 
to Jehovah, and that the flesh be cooked and eaten ; it 
insists, and this is peculiar to it, that the sacrifice of the 
passover can be offered and eaten only at the place where 

1 Ex. xxiii. 18 ; xxxiv. 25. 

2 Ex. xii. 1 ; xiii. 4 ; xxiii. 15 ; xxxiv. 18 ; Deut. xvi. 1. 

3 Dillmaim, i.l. 4 Ex. xiii. 3-10. 
5 Ex. xii. 27 ; xxxiv. 23-25 ; xxiii. 15, 17 f . 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 53 

the lawful sanctuary is located. 1 This code must have 
introduced certain innovations. Under its influence, 
in fact, King Josiah caused the passover to be kept 
as it had never before been celebrated. 2 According to 
Professor Reuss the passover had hitherto been the 
spring festival and then only took a theocratic charac- 
ter. 3 But since even document A gives the feast this 
character in a number of passages, we cannot admit 
such a view. It must, moreover, be observed that the 
deliverance from slavery in Egypt, even in old docu- 
ments, such as the song of deliverance, Ex. xv., and the 
decalogue, appears as the chief of the benefits bestowed 
by Jehovah upon Israel. It is, therefore, inadmissible 
to suppose that they waited until the time of Josiah to 
celebrate this blessing; it must have been celebrated 
from early times, and that in the spring, in the month 
of ears, together with the feast of unleavened bread, as 
document A says in several places. The important 
modifications that the strict centralization of worship 
necessarily occasioned in the celebration of the passover 
under Josiah sufficiently explain the statement of the 
second book of Kings, to which reference has just been 
made, and on which Professor Reuss bases his view. 

Inquiring now into the real significance of this feast, 
we must take account of its twofold character. The 
feast of unleavened bread, considered as a feast in- 
augurating the harvest, in which the first-fruits of the 
land are offered to God, has the same significance as 
analogous festivals among the other peoples. Offerings 

1 Dent. xvi. 1-8. 2 2 Kings xxiii. 21-28. 

> Sec Reuss on this passage ; Hi8toire Sainte, I. pp. 10-4 f., and 
Geschichte, § 289 ; [Wellhausen, p. 93]. 



54 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

were presented to the divinity at the beginning of the 
harvest, to express this thought, that the first-fruits of 
the year should be consecrated to the giver of all things, 
and that man can properly enjoy his blessings only 
when this has been done. 1 

As for the feast of passover, it is a commemoration 
of the deliverance from slavery in Egypt and the foun- 
dation of the Israelitish nation, as well as of their cov- 
enant with Jehovah; for, according to the Old Testa- 
ment, Israel forms a nation and becomes the people of 
Jehovah first from this moment. In order to awaken 
and maintain the feeling of gratitude toward God, 
fathers must at each feast remind their sons of this 
great and memorable token of Jehovah's goodness. 2 

b. The Feast of the Harvest is also called the feast of 
weeks, because just seven weeks are to be counted after 
the feast of the passover in fixing its date. 3 According 
to Lev. xxiii. 10, the first-fruits of the harvest to be 
offered at the passover can only be the first-fruits of the 
barley harvest. 4 It is the first-fruits of the wheat har- 
vest, 5 which comes later, that belong to the feast of 
weeks. For this harvest, therefore, the feast of weeks 
is the feast of first-fruits. 6 

This feast is reckoned among the pilgrim feasts at 
which every male Israelite must present himself before 
Jehovah. 7 It is closely related to the agricultural feast 
of unleavened bread, as clearly appears from Lev. xxiii. 
It is the feast of the close of the harvest, as the feast of 

1 Dillrnann on Lev. xxiii. 10 and 14. 

2 Ex. xii. 26 f. ; xiii. 8 f. 

3 Ex. xxiii. 16 ; xxxiv. 22 ; Deut. xvi. 9 f. ; Lev. xxiii. 15 f. 

4 Dillrnann on Lev. xxiii. 10. h Ex. xxxiv. 22. 

6 Ex. xxiii. 16. 7 Ex. xxiii. 17 ; xxxiv. 23 ; Deut. xvi. 16. 






FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 55 

unleavened bread is the feast of the commencement. 1 
It lasts only one day. 2 

Touching this feast, Deuteronomy is content with 
saying that the offerings must be voluntary and propor- 
tionate to the blessings that each has received from 
God; 3 -that it must be a joyful feast, celebrated at the 
sanctuary by the whole family, including the servants, 
to whom must be added the Levites, the strangers, the 
orphans, and the widows who are in Israel; 4 that such 
kindness must be displayed because Israel were slaves 
in Egypt, and Jehovah delivered them. 5 

This feast, like that of unleavened bread, is evi- 
dently a feast of thanksgiving; it is intended to ex- 
press gratitude toward God for the harvest. Among the 
early Israelites it always had a purely agricultural char- 
acter. It was not until a later date that the Jews, 
wishing to give it a theocratic character, made it com- 
memorative of the promulgation of the law. 

c. The Feast of Tabernacles is the third pilgrim feast. 
Document A, however, does not give it the name feast 
of tabernacles, as does Deuteronomy. 6 It speaks simply 
of the feast of the harvest, which is to be celebrated at 
the end of the year, when the Israelites gather from the 
fields the fruits of their labor. 7 To this feast, as a 
feast of tabernacles, allusion is evidently made, Hos. 
xii. 9, where feast-days are mentioned on which it is 
customary to live in tents. The feast of Jehovah, spoken 
of, Jud. xxi. 19 ff., which was celebrated every year at 

1 Bibel-Lexikon, II. p. 200; IV. p. 512 ; Handw'orterbuch, i>. 4:):) ; 

[Wellhausen, pp. 85 f.]. - Lev. xxiii. 21 ; Num.xxviii.26. 

8 xvi. 10. 4 xvi. 11. B xvi. 12 ; romp. v. 15 ; XV. 15. 

c Deut. xvi. 13 ff. 7 Ex. xxiii. 1<> ; xx.xiv. 22. 



56 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Shiloh, and at which the young girls engaged in danc- 
ing, is also probably the feast of tabernacles. 

Even in early times this feast was celebrated seven 
clays in the seventh month, and it was called simply the 
feast because it was the feast par excellence. 1 Thus it 
appears, also, Zech. xiv. 16-19, and Ezek. xlv. 25. Jero- 
boam transferred it to the following month for the king- 
dom of the ten tribes, 2 probably because, in the north of 
Palestine, the vintage and the harvest of the autumnal 
fruits occurred later than in the South. 

According to Deuteronomy this feast must be cele- 
brated in honor of Jehovah, at his sanctuary, at the time 
when the products of the threshing-floor and the wine- 
press are gathered; it must be a joyful festival, in which 
everybod} 7- , including the Levites and the poor, are to 
take part ; the offerings to Jehovah are to be proportion- 
ate to the blessings that each has received. 3 The sig- 
nificance of this feast is very clear. Celebrated at the 
beginning of autumn, when the vintage occurred, and 
the latest products of the soil and the latest fruits of 
the trees were gathered, it was the general and prin- 
cipal feast of the harvests of the entire year, a feast 
essentially agricultural, a feast of joy and gratitude 
toward God, the author of nature and the dispenser of 
temporal blessings. The custom of celebrating this 
feast under booths of leafy branches was certainly, in 
the beginning, intimately related to its rural character. 

i 1 Kings viii. 2, 65. 2 1 Kings xii. 32 f. 3 Deut. xvi. 13-17. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 57 

IV. Religious Rites. 

1. Circumcision. — Circumcision, the initial rite of 
the old covenant, 1 is not an exclusively Israelitish 
custom; it is found among many peoples, ancient and 
modern. 2 According to document A this sacred cus- 
tom existed in the family of Israel from remote antiquity. 
In the days of Moses and Joshua a stone knife was used 
for the purpose, 3 which seems to indicate that it origi- 
nated as early as the stone age. 4 The oldest historical 
books teach us that the Israelites, when they wished 
to cast upon their enemies, and particularly the Philis- 
tines, a stinging reproach, called them the uncircum- 
cised. 5 Document C, which is generally very theoreti- 
cal, manifests the same tendency with reference to 
circumcision. Not content with representing this as 
an old and sacred custom, it makes it a divine ordi- 
nance, dating from Abraham; it represents it as the 
perpetual sign of the covenant with God; it says that 
every one who is uncircumcised must be exterminated 
from the midst of the Hebrews, that even slaves must 
be circumcised, and that all male children are to be on 
the eighth day after their birth. It teaches also that 
in exceptional cases circumcision might be performed 
at any age, 7 and that a stranger could not partake of 
the passover without being circumcised. 8 

1 Lev. xii. 3 ; Gen. xvii. 10 ff., 23 ff. ; xxi. 4. 

2 BibeULexikon, I. pp. 405 f. ; [Smith, Dictionary, art. Circum- 
cision]. 3 Gen. xxxiv. 14 ff. ; Ex. iv. 24-26 ; Josh. v. 2-8. 

4 Dillmaim on Ex. iv. 25. 

•"' Jud. xiv. 3 ; xv. 18 ; 1 Sam. xiv. G ; xvii. 20, 36 ; xxxi. 4 ; 2 Sam. 
i. 20. ° (Jen. xvii. 10-14 ; xxi. 4 ; Lev. xii. :). 

: Gen. xvii. 2o-27 ; comp. xxxiv. 24. 8 Ex. xii. 44, 48. 



58 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

What is the real significance of this sacrament? 
There are various opinions on the subject. It is certain 
that circumcision is an act of consecration to Jehovah. 1 
Thereby every male Israelite is incorporated with the 
chosen people and obtains the privileges that are con- 
nected with the covenant with Jehovah. Some modern 
theologians, starting from Ex. iv. 24-26, profess to see 
in it, above all, a bloody sacrifice, performed at the very 
source of life, by which the life of every Israelite is, 
from his youth, consecrated to God; and they maintain 
that circumcision is only secondarily and as a conse- 
quence of this significance, the sign of the covenant 
with Jehovah. 2 Others combat the idea that circum- 
cision is a sacrifice; they see in it an act of purification 
and therefore of consecration to God. 3 Steiner adopts 
a combination of both views, 4 which are really mutually 
exclusive. 

It is certain that, according to the old passage Ex. 
iv. 24-26, " circumcision is a sacramental act, in which 
the blood of the child redeems the life of the father, a 
symbolic sort of sacrifice which insures divine favor," 5 
and that, by this act, the circumcised child is at the 
same time consecrated to God. 6 But in a number of 
other passages — of a later date, it is true — circumcision 
is also the symbol of purity or purification. There are 
references to circumcised hearts, i.e. regenerate, pure, 
obedient hearts ; and to uncircumcised hearts, i.e. hearts 
that are impure and rebellious toward God. 7 An inat- 

1 Reuss, Gfesch., § 71 ; [Ewald, Antiquities, pp. 92 f.]. 

2 Dillmann on Ex. iv. 26 and Lev. xii. 3. 

3 Handworterbuch, p. 170 ; Oehler, § 88. 

4 Bibel-Lexikon, I. pp. 408 f. 5 Reuss, i.l. 6 Dillmann, i.l. 
7 Lev. xxvi. 41 ; Deut. x. 10 ; xxx. 6 ; Jer. iv. 4 ; ix. 20 ; Ezek. xliv. 7. 






FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 59 

tentive ear, one that will not hear the word of Jehovah, 
is an uncircumcised ear. 1 The first-fruits of trees are 
considered uncircumcised, i.e. as impure, and not to be 
eaten. 2 

Inasmuch as circumcision was an act of consecra- 
tion to Jehovah, it was necessarily an act of purification 
and sanctification, since nothing could be consecrated 
without being purified and sanctified. Israel must be 
a holy people, and one could become part of this people 
only by circumcision : the idea of sanctification was 
therefore inseparable from this ceremony. Dillmann 
maintains that if circumcision had been an act of purifi- 
cation, there must have been an analogous purification 
for the female child. 3 But this argument is weak. 
The Israelitish woman played a very subordinate part 
even in matters of religion. She belonged to the peo- 
ple of God, by virtue of being the daughter, the wife, 
or the slave of the head of a family; she had no need 
of being otherwise incorporated with it. 4 

2. Sacrifices. — ■ The most important religious act, 
the essential part of worship among almost all the peo- 
ples of antiquity, and not less so among the Israelites, 
is sacrifice. The custom of offering sacrifices seems to 
be of as ancient a date as religion itself. It suggested 
itself very naturally to the primitive man, with his 
exceedingly infantile notions respecting the Deity. At 
first the gods were supposed to have all the needs and 
desires of men. To secure their favor, to appease 
their wrath, or to manifest gratitude to them, presents 
were brought and sacrifices offered to them. This 

1 Jer. vi. 10. '- Lev. xix. 23. 3 See on Lev. xii. 3. 

4 Handwurterbuch, p. 168; Oehler, § 88. 



60 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

means was considered more efficacious than simple 
prayer. 

The practice of offering sacrifices certainly existed 
among the Hebrews from times the most remote. Doc- 
ument A represents it as dating from the first man. 1 
The same authority testifies to its existence in the days 
of the patriarchs, 2 as well as in those of Moses and 
Joshua. 3 The oldest of the other historical books give 
evidence of its continued existence. 4 But it must be 
observed that the legal portion of document A knows 
nothing of either an institution or a regulation of sac- 
rifices. Traditional usage seems originally to have 
sufficed on this as on so many other points. 

It clearly follows from the passages cited, and many 
others, that, in ancient times, the rite did not play the 
part that it did afterwards; for it is nowhere dwelt 
upon. The important thing was not the rite, which, in 
an age when primitive simplicity and freedom reigned, 
was probably not strictly uniform. 5 The important 
thing was that the sacrifices be offered to Jehovah and 
not to other gods. 6 

Among all peoples sacrifices are essentially offerings, 
gifts made to the divinity by his worshippers. It was 
the same in Israel. This is expressed by the term 

i Gen. iv. 3 f. ; viii. 20. 

2 Gen. xv. 9 ff. ; xxii. 2 ff., 13 ; xxxi. 54 ; xlvi. 1. 

3 Ex. v. 3 ; x. 25 f. ; xviii. 12 ; xx. 24 ; xxii. 20 ; xxiv. 5 ; xxxii. 6 ; 
xxxiv. 25 ; Num. xxv. 2 ; Josh. xxii. 23, 26-29. 

* Jud. ii. 5 ; vi. 19-21, 25-28 ; xi. 31 ; xiii. 16, 19 ; xx. 26; xxi. 4 ; 
1 Sam. i. 3, 21, 24 f. ; ii. 13 ff., 28 f. ; iii. 14 ; vii. 9 f. ; ix. 13 ; x. 8 ; 
xi. 15 ; xiii. 9 f. ; xv. 15, 22; xvi. 2 ff. ; xx. 6, 29 ; xxvi. 19 ; etc. 

& Jud. vi. 19 f. ; xi. 30 f. ; xiii. 15, 19 ; 1 Sam. vi. 14 ; 2 Sam. vi. 13 ; 
1 Kings viii. 30 ff. : xix. 19-21. ° Ex. xxii. 20. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 61 

minchah, offering, which was originally applied to sacri- 
fices in general, 1 and not to bloodless sacrifices alone, as 
the later legislation would lead one to suppose. 2 Since 
in document A it denotes especially bloodless sacrifices, 
we find there and in Ezekiel another term for sacrifices 
in general, viz. qorban, which also means offering, 
present. 3 

Sacrifices have the same object as any other offering 
made to Jehovah, — to obtain or retain his favors, or to 
render thanks for favors obtained. But what distin- 
guishes the sacrifice from other offerings is that it is 
offered and partly or wholly burned on the altar, the 
table of Jehovah, and that it is thought to serve as 
food for God. In fact, only things that are edible are 
offered to him, — and those the best both of fruits of 
the earth and domestic, or, in biblical phraseology, 
clean, animals. 4 Sacrifices are actually called the food 
of God, 5 and said to have an odor pleasant to him. 6 
Libations of wine were added 7 because man does not 
usually eat without drinking. Since, also, perfumes 
were esteemed and freely used on grand occasions, 
they were burned on the altars of Jehovah, 8 after the 
fashion followed elsewhere. 9 

1 Gen. iv. 3-5 ; Num. xvi. 15 ; Jud. vi. 18 f. ; 1 Sam. ii. 17 ; xxvi. 
19 ; Isa. i. 13 ; Mai. i. 10-13 ; ii. 12 f. ; iii. 3 f. 2 Lev. ii. 

3 Lev. i. 2 ff. ; ii. 1 ff. ; iii. i ff. ; iv. 23, 28, 32 ; v. 11, etc.; Ezek. 
xx. 28 ; xl. ; xl. 43. 

4 Gen. iv. 3 f. ; viii. 20 ; 1 Sam. xv. 15 ; Lev. xxii. 20 ff. ; Mai. i. 8, 14. 

5 Lev. iii. 11, 10 ; xxi. 0, 8, 17, 21 f. ; etc. 

6 Gen. viii. 21 ; Ex. xxix. 18, 25, 41 ; Lev. i. 9, 13, 17 ; ii. 2, 9, 
12 ; etc. ' Hos. ix. 4; Num. xv. 5 ff. ; xxviii. 7 if. 

8 Isa. i. 13 ; Jer. xxxiii. 18 ; xli. 5; 1 Kings iii. 3 ; ix. 25 ; xiii. 1 ; 
Ex. xxx. 7 £., 34-3H ; Lev. ii. 1, 15 ; xvi. L2 I'. 
Dillmann on Ex. xxx. 34-38. 



62 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The original ground for sacrifices, then, is the thought 
that the Deity takes nourishment; in fine, has human 
needs. But with the progress of religious ideas in 
Israel this custom took on a more enlightened charac- 
ter; so that it could be preserved even when a purer 
conception of the Deity became prevalent. He who 
presented an offering to Jehovah made a sacrifice, re- 
nounced some good in favor of God ; but he connected 
with this act a religious thought, a feeling, a desire, 
a vow: the offering was, so to speak, the vehicle for 
them, the means of presenting them to God. It was a 
thought, a feeling of adoration or thankfulness for bless- 
ings received, or perhaps a prayer, a vow, that new 
benefits might be obtained. Sacrifices thus also denoted 
the covenant relations that Israel enjoyed with Jeho- 
vah; were the means of maintaining this covenant, or 
restoring it when it had been violated by any infidelity. 1 

The Israelites, in imitation of the idolatrous peoples 
about them, sometimes sacrificed their children to Baal 
and Moloch. 2 In early times such sacrifices might also 
be made to Jehovah, as is proven by the case of Jeph- 
thah's daughter, offered as a burnt sacrifice by her 
father. 3 It was Jehovah before whom King Agag was 
slain by Samuel, 4 and seven sons of Saul, devoted to 
this purpose by David, were hanged. 5 The story in 
Genesis, representing God as interfering to prevent 
Abraham from offering his son Isaac as a burnt sacri- 
fice, was certainly intended to show that Jehovah does 

1 De Wette, Archeologie, § 200 ; Dillmann, Exodus u. Leviticus, 
pp. 376 f. ; [Ewalcl, Antiquities, pp. 23 ff.J. 

2 Jer. vii. 31 ; xix. 5 ; xxxii. 35 ; Ezek. xvi. 20 f. ; 2 Kings xvi. 3 ; 
xvii. 17 ; xxiii. 10 ; comp. Lev. xviii. 21 ; xx. 2 ff. 

3 Jud. xi. 30 f., 34-39. 4 1 Sam. xv. 33. 5 2 Sam. xxi. 6. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 63 

not accept sacrifices of this sort. Such a lesson could 
only be necessary if the early Hebrews sacrificed their 
children to God, as was the practice among other 
Semitic peoples. 

It was first-born sons who were the favorite offerings, 1 
because they, like the first-born of the flocks and herds, 
were believed to belong more especially to the Deity. 2 

3. The Offering of the First-born, First-fruits, and 
Tithes. — ■ As distinct and regular offerings the Israelites 
had to give to Jehovah the first-born, the first-fruits of 
the land, and tithes, as appears even from document 
A. 3 From the time when human sacrifices were forbid- 
den in Israel the first-born of men had to be redeemed. 4 

Offerings of the same kind were made among other 
peoples. The reason is easily comprehended. There 
was a strong conviction that all blessings come from the 
Deity, and that they could not lawfully be enjoyed until 
after a part had been rendered to him as a token of grati- 
tude. First-fruits were offered, because the claims of 
the Deity take priority over those of men, because first- 
fruits are generally the best that one has, and because, 
as the earliest products, they represent all that follow. 
Tithes were offered, because, according to a very widely 
recognized symbolism, the number ten was regarded as 
a perfect number, representing totality. In Israel, 
moreover, Jehovah was considered the proprietor of the 
soil and the king of the country, so that these offerings 

1 Mic. vi. 7 ; Ezek. xx. 20. 

2 Ex. xxii. 29 f. ; xxxiv. 19 f. ; Num. xviii. 15. 

* Gen. xiv. 20 ; xxviii. 22 ; Ex. xiii. 11-10; xxii. 29 f . ; xxiii. 19; 
xxxiv. 19 f., 20. 

4 Ex. xiii. 13, 15 ; xxxiv. 20; Num. xviii. 15 f. 



64 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

were only a just tribute. 1 Deuteronomy, especially in 
the case of first-fruits, gives as a reason for offering 
them, that Jehovah brought Israel forth from Egypt to 
give them the good land of Canaan, flowing with milk 
and honey. 2 The reason for offering the first-born, as 
given in several passages, is the fact that Jehovah 
spared the first-born of the Hebrews when he slew those 
of the Egyptians ; it was to perpetuate the memory of 
the deliverance from Egypt. 3 

The early documents say nothing about the way in 
which these offerings are to be consecrated to Jehovah. 
It was doubtless done in the form of sacrifice, as is 
indicated by Deut. xv. 21. According to this same 
document the victims sacrificed furnished a joyful fam- 
ily meal, eaten before Jehovah, i.e. at the sanctuary, 
and shared by the Levites and the poor. 4 We have 
here the description of a traditional custom, which Deu- 
teronomy presupposes, rather than inaugurates; the 
only new provision is that these religious feasts must be 
celebrated exclusively at the lawful sanctuary. 5 Touch- 
ing tithes, it commands that every three years they be 
given up to the Levites and the poor. 6 Document C, 
on the other hand, claims that these and many other 
offerings fall to the priests alone. 7 This is, moreover, 
the general tendency of this document: it seeks to in- 

1 Handworterbuch, pp. 396, 398; Dillmann on Lev. xxvii. 30-33 ; 
[Schultz, II. pp. 10 f.]. 

2 Deut. xxvi. 2-10, 15. 3 Ex. xiii. 15 f. ; Num. iii. 13 ; viii. 17. 

4 Deut. xii. G f., 11 f., 17 f. ; xiv. 22-27 ; xv. 19 f. ; xxvi. 11 ; comp. 
Lev. xix. 24. 

5 Riehm, Gesetzgebung Mosis, p. 44 ; Graf, Geschtl. Bucher dcs 
A. T., p. 47 ; [Wellhausen, pp. 150 f.]. 

6 Deut. xiv. 28 f. ; xxvi. 12 f. 7 Num. xviii. 8-32. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 65 

crease trie revenues of the priesthood, 1 as well as 
attempts to modify one of the essential features of the 
sacrifices, by making of these sacred acts, hitherto occa- 
sions for joyful family repasts, purely ecclesiastical 
ceremonies. 2 

4. Prayer. — The religious act most universally 
practised, that to which man feels himself most natu- 
rally inclined, is prayer. The whole Old Testament 
gives proof that it was always in use among the Israel- 
ites. It doubtless accompanied the offering of sacri- 
fices. 3 The law, however, contains no command on 
the subject, perhaps because the universal practice of 
prayer rendered any command of this kind superfluous, 
or because it was believed impossible to regulate so 
spontaneous an act of the soul. Deuteronomy gives 
only the formula to be employed when the first-fruits 
of the land and the tithes are offered, 4 and document C 
prescribes the benediction that the priests are to pro- 
nounce upon the people. 5 This document also in cer- 
tain cases enjoins the confession of sins. 6 

It is the Psalms that furnish the most examples of 
prayers used among the Israelites. In them, as indeed 
in many other passages of the Old Testament, appears 
the full and complete assurance that all possible mate- 
rial and spiritual blessings may be obtained by prayer, 
and the belief that God can grant anything if it seems 
to him good. 

1 Graf, pp. 47 ff. ; Wellhausen, pp. 156 f. ; Reuss, Histoire Sainte, 
I. pp. 170 f. 

2 Wellhausen, pp. 09 ff., 70 ff. 

8 Gen. xii. 8 ; xxvi. 25 ; 1 Sain. vii. 9 ; Job xlii. 8 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 26. 
4 Deut. xxvi. 5-10, 13-15. 5 Num. vi. 24-20. 

6 Lev. xvi. 21 ; Num. v. 7. 



66 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

5. Voivs. — Vows also are among the oldest religious 
practices of the Israelites. A vow was more than a 
prayer, more than a mere word ; it was an act, general^ 
a sacrifice, by which one sought to win or retain the 
divine favor. Document A shows us Jacob on his flight 
to Mesopotamia making the vow that, if Jehovah will 
guard and bless him, he will take him for his God, rear 
a sanctuary to him and pay him tithes. 1 But the most 
touching, tragic vow is that of Jephthah. He prom- 
ises God that if he will give him victory over the 
Ammonites, he will offer to him as a burnt offering 
whatever comes out of his house on his return. But it 
is his daughter, whom he first meets ; therefore, at the 
end of two months, he fulfils upon her the vow that he 
has uttered. 2 Saul makes the people promise under 
oath not to eat anything until evening, until he has 
been avenged upon his enemies; and Jonathan, who 
does not keep this vow because he knows nothing of it, 
only escapes being put to death by the intercession of 
the people for him with the king, his father: 3 so sacred 
and irrevocable were vows and oaths considered. Absa- 
lom claims to have made the following vow during his 
sojourn in Geshur: "If Jehovah will bring me back to 
Jerusalem, I will serve him," 4 — evidently by offering 
to him sacrifices. 

Although vows were customary among the Israelites 
of antiquity, the law pays little attention to them. The 
oldest legislation of the Pentateuch says nothing at all 
about them. Deuteronomy, presupposing the custom 
of making vows to Jehovah, declares that one is per- 

i Gen. xxviii. 20-22 ; xxxi. 13. 2 Jud. xi. 30-40. 

3 1 Sam. xiv. 24 ff., 3G ff. * 2 Sam. xv. 7 f. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 67 

fectly free in the matter ; that it is not a sin not to make 
vows, but that those made must be fulfilled, and that as 
soon as possible. 1 This declaration shows that the 
Deuteronomist knew nothing of a divine law requiring 
vows, otherwise he would not have said that it was not a 
sin not to make them. As for document C, it conhnes 
itself to giving rules that must be observed in fulfilling 
vows. 2 Most of the other passages of the Old Testa- 
ment bearing on this subject prove that vows played 
an important part in Israelitish piety, and that fidelity 
required their exact fulfilment. 3 

The foregoing discussion shows that vows were a 
means of rendering God favorable, and especially of 
securing his help at critical junctures, in the presence 
of great danger. The fulfilment of the vow after 
some deliverance or blessing, naturally became an ex- 
pression of gratitude toward God. 

6. The Anathema. — A peculiar vow, to which refer- 
ence is made in document A and elsewhere, consisted 
in anathematizing persons or things, placing them 
under ban, or devoting them to destruction. Thus the 
Canaanitish peoples were placed under ban by command 
of Jehovah, because these peoples were idolaters. 4 The 
Israelites, also, who became idolaters, or enticed their 
brethren thereto, were devoted to extermination. 5 Any 

1 Deut. xxiii. 21-2:} ; comp. Eccl. v. 3-6. 

2 Lev. vii. 10 ; xxii. 18; xxvii. 1 ff. ; Num. xv. 3 ; xxx. 3 ff. 

3 Isa. xix. 21 ; Nah. i. 15 ; Jon. i. 1(5 ; ii. '.) ; Job xxii. 27 ; Prov. xx. 
25; Ps. xxii. 25; 1. 14; lvi. 12; lxi. 8; lxv. 1; lxvi. 13; lxxvi. 11; 
cxvi. 14, 18. 

1 -Josh. ii. 10 ; vi. 17-21 ; viii. 26 ; x. 28-42 ; xi. 10-22 ; Jud. i. 17 ; 
1 8am. xv. 2-33 ; Deut. ii. 34 ; iii. ; vii. 1 i'f. ; xx. 10-18. 
; '' Ex. xxii. 20 ; Deut. xiii. 



68 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

one who appropriated an object anathematized was him- 
self placed under ban, 1 as was Achan. 2 

The people Israel could, of their own accord, place 
under ban men and things. This was done in the case 
of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, 3 and the cities be- 
longing to the king of Aracl. 4 But every individual 
Israelite could also place certain objects or men under 
ban. 5 

Thus it appears that, in general, anathema consisted 
in sacrificing something or some one to the divine wrath 
by extermination, and that the anathema was pronounced 
upon what displeased Jehovah. He who, of his own 
motion, placed something under ban, did so to please 
God by satisfying his anger. The anathema is, how- 
ever, Lev. xxvii. 28, treated in a manner not very 
different from other vows by which things are devoted 
to the service of Jehovah. 6 

7. The Nazirate. — Samson is the first nazirite men- 
tioned in history. He was consecrated to God from 
his mother's womb by command of the angel of Jeho- 
vah. 7 While she was pregnant with him, she was not 
allowed to drink wine or strong drink, or eat airything 
impure. 8 As for him, he could never shave his head. 9 
The same obligation is assumed for Samuel, who was 
also a nazirite. 10 Amos reproaches the Israelites, be- 
cause, among other instances of unfaithfulness, they 
made the nazirites drink wine, which nazirites accord- 
ing to him were raised up by God like the prophets. 11 

1 Josh. vi. 18 ; Deut. vii. 26 ; comp. xiii. 17. 2 Josh. vii. 
3 Jud. xxi. 10 f. 4 Num. xxi. 1-3. 5 Lev. xxvii. 28 f. 

6 See Pillmann, i.l. 7 Jud. xiii. 2—5. 8 Jud. xiii. 4, 7, 14. 

9 Jud. xiii. 5 ; xvi. 17, 10 ff., 22 ff. 10 1 Sam. i. 11. u ii. 11 f. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 69 

Samuel was at once a nazirite and a prophet. The 
early legal documents take no account of the nazirate. 
Document C is the only one that speaks of it: Num. 
vi. presupposes the existence of this institution, and 
regulates it according to the principles of Levitism. 
Although Samson and Samuel were nazirites for life, 
it has reference only to the temporary nazirate. Is this 
an innovation? What seems one is the regulation that 
we find, vv. 6 if., according to which the nazirite is 
defiled by contact with a corpse; for Samson often 
came into contact with dead bodies, 1 without ceasing 
to be a nazirite; and Samuel, in spite of his vows, 
hewed in pieces King Agag, and that before Jehovah. 2 
Beyond these passages the canonical books of the Old 
Testament do not mention the nazirate. There are 
references to it, 1 Mace. iii. 49 and Acts xxi. 23 f., in 
the sense of document C. John the Baptist, on the 
other hand, was a nazirite, all his life, like Samson and 
Samuel. 3 

The leading idea connected with the nazirate is that 
of special consecration to Jehovah. This follows even 
from the term nazir, which is used to designate the 
nazirite, and which, like qadhosh, holy, implies the idea 
of separation from the common or profane world and of 
consecration to God. Samson is called nazir of God, 4 
which Segond and Reuss correctly render consecrated to 
God. Document C says that the nazirite shall be 
consecrated (qadhosh) to Jehovah, 5 just as it sa}^s of 
the priest. 6 

Starting from this leading idea of the nazirate, the 

1 See especially Jud. xiv. 10. - 1 Sum. xv. 33. 3 Luke i. 15. 

4 Jud. xiii. 5, 7 ; xvi. 17. 6 Num. vi. 8. G Lev. xxi. 7. 



70 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

details concerning it become explicable. The mother 
of Samson, while she was pregnant, was not permitted 
to eat anything impure or drink wine, and the nazirites 
themselves were forbidden to drink wine or come into 
contact with a dead body. These same regulations 
apply, at least in part, to the priests. The object is 
to keep them in a healthy condition, as required by their 
special consecration to Jehovah. They evidently have 
the same object when applied to the nazirites. 

Strict abstinence from wine among the latter, how- 
ever, seems to have had its real origin in the nomadic 
life of the ancient Hebrews, and is best explained as a 
relic of the customs of that sort of life, in harmony with 
what Jeremiah tells us of the Rechabites. 1 They, in 
obedience to the command of one of their ancestors, 
not only abstained from wine, but also renounced the 
principal advantages of civilization. Customs hal- 
lowed by time, indeed, readily pass for sacred; they 
become a part of one's religion; it would be thought 
wrong to replace them by new usages. Among other 
peoples also, abstinence from wine was regarded as nec- 
essary to the enjoyment of unusual health. 2 

The most original feature is that which forbids the 
nazirite to shave his head. He must preserve his hair 
inviolate. This is called the consecration of God; 3 it 
is, as it were, the sign characteristic of it. The ex- 
planation of this feature is probably to be sought in the 
general idea that everything that men touch and form or 

1 Jer. xxxv. 2 ff. 

2 Bibel-Lexikon, IV. p. 289 ; Handworterbuch, p. 1060 ; [Sehultz, I. 
pp. 161 f. ; W. 1\. Smith, Prophets, pp.84, 388 f. ; Bible Commentary, 
on Num. vi. 4]. 3 Num. vi. 7. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 71 

use belongs to the domain of the profane, and that every- 
thing that is destined for a sacred end must, as far as 
possible, be pure, unaltered by the hand of man. Indeed, 
he who gathers grapes for the first time from a newly 
planted vine, profanes it, as Deut. xx. 6 and xxviii. 
30 says in the original. In building an altar conse- 
crated to Jehovah, rough stones must be used, because 
man would profane them by using a chisel on them. 1 
The sacred victims must never have borne the yoke or 
been used for ordinary labor. 2 

The hair plays a particularly important part in the 
nazirate, but this fact accords with a custom found 
among other peoples of antiquity. 3 

8. Fasting. — Fasting is a religious exercise an- 
ciently, and even in our own day, very widely practised 
among the peoples of the Orient, where abstinence from 
food produces less inconvenience than in our coun- 
tries. The Israelites also always had the custom of 
fasting. Fasting often accompanied prayer or the 
offering of sacrifices ; there were united with it other 
signs of humility, contrition, affliction: the subject 
mourned, wept, clothed himself in sackcloth, sat on the 
ground, rent his garments, plucked out his hair; re- 
course was had to fasting, especially in times of mis- 
fortune and sorrow, in cases of public or private 
calamity, 4 to secure divine assistance in the presence 

1 Ex. xx. 25. 

2 Num. xix. 2 ; Deut. xv. 10 ; xxi. ; 1 Sam. vi. 7. 

8 Bibel-Lexikon, IV. p. 290 ; Handworterbuch, p. 1001; [Ewald, 
Antiquities, p. 8G]. 

4 Jud. xx. 20 ; 1 Sam. i. 7 ; xx. 04 ; xxxi. 13 ; 2 Sam. i. 11 f. ; xii. 
10 f., 22 f. ; Joel i. 1 1 ; ii. 12, 15 ; Noli. i. 4; Esth. iv. 1-3; Ps. XXXV. 
10 ; lxix. 10 f. ; cix. 21. 



72 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

of danger and to avert a misfortune, 1 to express feelings 
of repentance, and to obtain pardon for sins. 2 In some 
exceptional cases fasting is represented as the means 
employed by men of God that they may enjoy the 
presence of Jehovah and obtain revelations from 
him. 3 

The earlier legal portions of the Pentateuch pay no 
attention to fasting. But document C gives some rules 
touching the fast that a married woman vows to per- 
form. 4 It also prescribes that the day of atonement be 
a day of fasting, 5 so that here especially this practice 
appears as the expression of the humiliation of a sinful 
people before a holy God, and as the means of appeas- 
ing God and obtaining his forgiveness. The Jews 
celebrated four other fast-days a year, in memory of the 
principal events that foreshadowed and consummated 
the capture and overthrow of Jerusalem. 6 

The prophets felt the necessity of opposing the abuses, 
to which fasting as a purely external act gave rise, and 
of showing that such a fast could neither please God 
nor secure his blessings ; they required of the people 
feelings and actions corresponding to this religious act. 7 
But in the midst of Judaism' these abuses only con- 
tinued to develop. Fasting was practised more fre- 

1 1 Sam. xiv. 24 ; 1 Kings xxi. 27-29 ; 2 Chron. xx. 3 f. ; Ezra viii. 
21, 23 ; Esth. iv. 15 f. 

2 Ueut. ix. 18 ; 1 Sam. vii. 6 ; Jon. iii. 5, 7 ; 1 Kings xxi. 9, 12 ; 
Ezra ix. 3-5 ; x. 6 ; Neh. ix. 1 f . ; Dan. ix. 3 ff. 

3 Ex. xxxiv. 28 ; Deut. ix. 9 ; Dan. x. 1 ff., 11 ff. ; comp. Matt. iv. 2. 

4 Num. xxx. 14, 1G. 

5 Lev. xvi. 29, 31 ; xxiii. 27, 29, 32 ; Num. xxix. 7. 

6 Zech. viii. 19 ; vii. 3-5 ; comp. Jer. xli. 1 ff. ; lii. 4, 6 f , 12 f. 

7 Isa. lviii. 3-7 ; Zech. vii. 5-10 ; viii. 16-19 ; Joel ii. 12 f. 



FIRST PERIOD. §6. WORSHIP. 73 

quently, and the fasts became longer; it appeared more 
and more as a meritorious act. 1 

The preceding discussion has shown what was the 
idea and the religious value of fasting. Like sacri- 
fices, prayer, vows, it was a means of winning the 
divine favor. But it was also a sign of repentance 
and humiliation, a means of averting imminent mis- 
fortunes, a symbol of mourning and affliction, a practice 
seemly in imploring the forgiveness of God. 

9. Purification and Levitical Purity. — Religious 
purifications are a custom among many peoples ancient 
as well as modern. 2 We find them also among the 
Hebrews. Even the early documents teach us that, 
before approaching Jehovah, the body had to be cleansed 
by ablutions and the garments changed or washed; 3 
that persons defiled by any impurity could not partici- 
pate in religious solemnities or touch sacred things ; 4 
that lepers were unclean and obliged to remain outside 
the Israelitish camp; 5 that cohabitation between man 
and woman rendered them both unclean ; 6 that a dis- 
tinction was to be made between clean and unclean 
animals ; " that it was forbidden to eat flesh torn in the 
fields, 8 a kid cooked in its mother's milk 9 or blood. 10 
Still other passages show that the Israelites considered 

1 Esth. iv. 10 ; Judith iv. 8 ff. ; viii. 5 f. ; Tob. xii. 8 ; 2 Mace. xiii. 
12 ; Matt. vi. 10 ; ix. 14 ; Luke ii. 37 ; xviii. 12. 

2 Bibel-Lexikon, V. pp. 65, 00. 

8 Gen. xxxv. 2 ; Ex. xix. 10 if. ; Josh. iii. 5 ; 1 Sam. xvi. 5. 
4 1 Sam. xx. 20 ; xxi. 5 f. 

6 Num. xii. 0-15. 

6 Ex. xix. 15 ; 1 Sam. xxi. 5 ; 2 Sam. xi. 4. 

7 Gen. vii. 2, 8 ; viii. 20. 8 Ex. xxii. 31. 

9 Ex. xxiii. 10 ; xxxiv. 20. ™ 1 Sam. xiv. 32-34. 



74 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

it an important duty to abstain from all unclean food. 1 
Deuteronomy gives some regulations on this subject. 
It contains a list of clean and unclean animals. 2 It 
also forbids the eating of animals torn in the field 3 as 
well as blood. 4 It commands that the criminal con- 
demned to the gallows be buried on the day of the exe- 
cution, that he may not defile the land. 5 It would 
exclude from the camp every one who has had a noctur- 
nal emission, and remove from sight human excre- 
ments. 6 

It is, however, only document C that presents a com- 
plete system of regulations for cases of uncleanness. It 
represents as dating from the time of Noah the prohibi- 
tion against eating blood, and alleges as the reason for 
it that the blood is the soul of all flesh. 7 It repeats this 
prohibition several times in the legal portion, adding 
to it that against eating fat. 8 It devotes, besides, a 
whole series of chapters to cases of uncleanness. It 
teaches that uncleanness results from eating unclean 
animals, or touching the dead body of an animal ; 9 that 
a woman becomes unclean in childbirth, 10 and lepers by 
virtue of their disease ; n that gonorrhea, whether pro- 
duced by diseased or other conditions, in man, and 
menstruation, natural or unnatural, in woman, produce 
a state of uncleanness. 12 Further, the same document 
declares that any one who is brought into contact with 
a human corpse is equally unclean. 13 

1 Hos. ix. 3 ; Zech. ix. 7 ; Ezek. iv. 14 ; xxxiii. 25 ; Isa. lxv. 4 ; 
lxvi. 17 ; Dan. i. 8-16 ; 2 Mace. vii. 

2 xiv. 3-20. 3 xiv. 21. 4 xii. 16, 23-25 ; xv. 23. 
6 xxi. 23. 6 xxiii. 9-14. 7 Gen. ix. 4. 

8 Lev. iii. 17 ; vii. 22-27 ; xvii. 10-14 ; xix. 26. 9 Lev. xi. 

10 Lev. xii. n Lev. xiii. f. 12 Lev. xv. 13 Num. xix. 11-22. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 0. WORSHIP. 75 

As to the purifications that must be undertaken in 
case of uncleanness, they are very various. In certain 
cases, one remained unclean until evening, but no 
special purification was required; 1 uncleanness doubt- 
less ceased with the day on which it was contracted. 
In other cases one had to bathe or wash one's garments, 
or both, or even shave off all one's hair. 2 In still other 
cases a more complicated and important process of puri- 
fication became necessary: a woman after childbirth 
could only be purified by sacrifices ; 3 a leper must offer 
sacrifices in addition to performing the cleansing cere- 
monies prescribed ; 4 it was the same with a man healed 
of gonorrhea and a woman cured of a menstrual flux ; 5 
finally, one who had been defiled by contact with a 
corpse was obliged to be purified by means of the water 
of purification, whose preparation and use are described, 
Num. xix. 

As to the real significance of these customs and regu- 
lations, there is great difference of opinion among schol- 
ars. 6 The Old Testament, however, gives precise 
information on this subject. It is because Jehovah is 
holy that his people must be holy and therefore free 
from all defilement: this is the teaching of the three 
principal documents of the Pentateuch. 7 It is because 
the holy God dwells in the midst of his people, that 

1 Lev. xi. 24, 27, 31, 39 ; xiv. 40 ; xv. 10, 19, 23 ; Num. xix. 21 f. 

2 Lev. xi. 25, 28, 40 ; xiii. 0, 34 ; xiv. 18 f., 47 ; xv. 5 fL, 10, 18, 21 f., 
27 ; xvii. 15 ; xxii. 4-7 ; Num. xix. 19, 21 ; xxxi. 24 ; Deut. xxiii. 10 f. 

3 Lev. xii. 0-8. * Lev . x i v . 2 ff. 

5 Lev. xv. 14 f., 29 f. 

6 Dillmann, Exodus u. Leviticus, pp. 470 ff., 483 ; [Kchaff-Herzog, 
Encyclopaedia, art. Purification]. 

7 Ex. xxii. 31 ; DeuL. xiv. 21 ; Lev. xi. 41 ; xx. 25 f. 



76 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

there must be no defilement in them ; l for it would 
communicate itself to the sanctuary, the dwelling of 
Jehovah, and would have to be punished with death. 2 
For this reason also the unclean must remain outside 
the camp. 3 

In order to understand the thought that inspired 
these laws, it must not be forgotten that the ancients 
did not, like us, distinguish between moral and exter- 
nal impurity or imperfection. This is the reason why 
the Israelites regarded them both as equally repugnant 
to the holiness of Jehovah. The priests, also, and the 
victims offered in sacrifice had to be without physical 
blemish, 4 and those who performed duties at the sanc- 
tuary, on the occasion of their consecration and before 
fulfilling their office, were obliged to take a full or 
partial bath, wash their garments, and even shave their 
bodies. 5 One who thoroughly appreciates this point 
of view will understand how there could be such a thing 
as leprosy in garments or houses requiring purifying 
ceremonies; 6 why the regulation, Deut. xxiii. 12 f., 
to which we have already referred, was made ; and why 
it was necessary to be in a state of cleanness to touch 
sacred things, objects consecrated to Jehovah. 7 Thus 
also, in the main, are explained the provisions that pre- 
vented contact between Jehovah and anything defiled 

1 Deut. xxiii. 14 ; Num. v. 3. 2 Lev. xv. 31 ; Num. xix. 13. 

3 Lev. xiii. 46 ; xiv. 3, 8 ; Num. v. 2-4 ; xii. 14 f. ; xxxi. 19 f. ; 
Deut. xxiii. 10 f . 

4 Lev. xxi. 17 ff. ; xxii. 19 ff. 

5 Ex. xxix. 4; xxx. 19-21 ; xl. 12, 31 f. ; Lev. viii. 6 ; xvi. 4, 24 ; 
Num. viii. 7, 21. 

e Lev. xiii. 47 ff. ; xiv. 33 ff. 

7 Lev. vii. 19 f. ; xii. 4 ; xxii. 2 ff. ; Num. ix. 6 ff. ; xviii. 11, 13. 



FIRST PERIOD. — §6. WORSHIP. 77 

or profane. Be it remembered, moreover, that Jehovah 
was the King of Israel. Just as respect for a king dic- 
tates that one should not present one's self before him 
except in a perfectly cleanly condition, so likewise it 
behooved one not to appear before this divine sovereign 
or live in his presence, defiled by any sort of unclean- 
ness. Finally, everything that produces repugnance 
in man was evidently regarded as producing the same 
effect upon God. 

It is more difficult to sa} 7 why the law condemns only 
certain forms of external uncleanness, why it represents 
one animal as clean or unclean and not another ; for the 
Old Testament gives no explanation on this subject. 
A part of these regulations, however, are easy to ex- 
plain. Thus many forms of disease and defilement, 
such as leprosy and death, inspire in man dread or dis- 
gust: he feels a strong antipathy toward them. This 
is equally true of certain animals. Purifying rites, in 
warm countries, and abstinence from certain foods have, 
besides, an evident utility. Guided by experience on 
the one hand and tradition on the other, the Israelites 
naturally and necessarily accustomed themselves to the 
practices of which we have spoken, and to which the 
legislators did not until later give the religious and 
theocratic character shown to have been impressed upon 
them. 1 It is, indeed, certain that we are here brought 
face to face with customs whose origin is lost in the 
gloom of antiquity, customs for the most part common 
to a majority of ancient peoples. 

Under the rubric of cleanness must be placed a series 

1 De Wette, Archeologie, § 188; Bibel-Lexikon, V. pp. .351 I!.; 
[Ewald, Antiquities, pp. 141 £.]. 



78 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

of other directions that are found mostly in Lev. xviii. - 
xx. The regulations contained in this passage have 
properly been called the laivs of holiness. They, more 
than all the rest of the code, assert that their object is 
to make of the people Israel a holy people, free from 
all defilement. 1 

To be a people holy and clean, it is necessary to 
avoid especially marriages between near relatives, incest, 
and sexual relations contrary to nature. 2 Transgressors 
against these regulations are threatened with the sever- 
est penalties. 3 It is the same with those who commit 
other acts of unchastity. 4 The best illustration how 
carefully the people of God must avoid all uncleanness 
of this sort, is the fact that a man sprung from an un- 
lawful union cannot enter the congregation of Jehovah 
even to the tenth generation. 5 

It is perhaps to prevent acts of uncleanness of this 
nature that women are forbidden to wear men's cloth- 
ing, and vice versa. Q This prohibition may, however, 
at the same time have been aimed at idolatrous prac- 
tices. 7 But it is more probable that it was inspired by 
the same motive as other laws to which we must here 
refer. Thus it is forbidden to mate beasts of two differ- 
ent species, to sow the same field with two kinds of 
seed, to wear garments woven of two sorts of yarn, to 
plough with an ox and an ass harnessed together. 8 These 

1 Lev. xviii. 24 ff. ; xix. 2 ; xx. 7, 26. 

2 Lev. xviii. 6 ff. ; Deut. xxii. 30 ; xxvii. 20-23. 

3 Lev. xviii. 24 ff. ; xx. 10 ff. ; Ex. xxii. 19. 

* Lev. xix. 29 ; Deut. xxii. 20-29 ; Num. v. 11-31 ; comp. xxv. 1-9. 
5 Deut. xxiii. 2. G Deut. xxii. 5. 

7 De Wette, Archeologie, § 190 ; [Ewald, Antiquities, p. 163]. 

8 Lev. xix. 19 ; Deut. xxii. 9-11. 



FIRST PERIOD. — § 6. WORSHIP. 79 

directions seem to be based on the idea that all that 
comes from the hand of God is good and clean; that 
therefore, the character given to a creature must not 
be changed, and that such a change would be a profa- 
nation. 1 

1 Dillmann on Lev. xix. 19 ; [Ewald, Antiquities, pp. 160 f.]. 



SECOND PERIOD. 



§ 7. PROPHETISM IN ITS PUEITT. 

We have now come to the prophetic period par excel- 
lence. Prophetism in this period plays a leading part, 
as it did not in the preceding; it is the dominant power 
in the midst of the people Israel. It appears also in all 
its purity, freed from the traditional usages encountered 
among the other peoples of antiquity, which also exer- 
cised a powerful influence upon the early prophets of 
Israel. These latter still practised the art of divination, 
and their activity was not unmixed with an exaltation 
more or less unhealthy; the prophets of our period, on 
the other hand, are preachers, speaking under the influ- 
ence of divine inspiration, — without, however, losing 
their self-consciousness, — and allowing themselves to be 
guided by political events, of which they are attentive 
observers. Another difference to be noted is, that the 
early prophets often employed carnal and violent means 
in support of the cause of Jehovah. Thus Samuel him- 
self hewed Agag, king of the Amalekites, in pieces 
before Jehovah, 1 because Saul had not executed, with 
respect to him, the stern orders that he had received. 
Elisha likewise slaughtered all the prophets of Baal. 2 
The numerous passages of the Old Testament, more- 

1 1 Sam. xv. ■';.'!. 2 1 Kings xviii. 40. 

81 



82 THEOLOGY OE THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

over, which enjoin the complete extermination of the 
Canaanitish peoples, and mostly belong to the oldest 
literature, are the faithful expression of the spirit that 
animated primitive prophetism. The means that later 
prophetism uses in opposing idolatry, on the contrary, 
is persuasion, speech. Finally, the early prophets often 
played a political part; they did not hesitate to over- 
throw the dynasties that favored idolatry or did not 
vigorously enough support Jehovism, to replace them by 
new ones. 1 The prophets of our period are also inter- 
ested in public affairs, but they seldom employ other 
than spiritual means to attain the end that they seek. 

The literature of this period teaches us that idolatry 
continued to prevail in Israel until the Exile, as well 
as the superstitious usages inseparable from it, and 
especially the art of divination. But genuine prophet- 
ism vigorously opposed this traditional tendency ; there 
was thus a prophetism that was .low and rude, false and 
perfunctory, 2 alongside of one that was pure and spirit- 
ual, exalted and inspired; or rather the latter freed 
itself from the former under an influence from on high. 
Traditional prophetism, following the old routine, had 
forfeited confidence in the presence of a new and higher 
religious life; hence it was that such men as Amos, 
impelled by the prophetic spirit to leave their ordinary 
occupations, refused to be called prophets or sons, i.e. 
disciples of prophets, in the sense in which the term 
had hitherto been employed. 3 

1 1 Sam. xv. 17 ff. ; xvi. 1 ff. ; 1 Kings i. 11 ff. ; xi. 29 ff. ; xiv. 6 ff.; 
xvi. 1 ff. ; xxi. 17 ff. ; 2 Kings ix. 1 ff. 

2 Mic. iii. 5-7 ; Zech. x. 2 ; Jer. xxix. 8 f. ; Ezek. xiii. 17-23 ; Isa. 
xliv. 25. a Amoo vii. 14 f . 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 7. PROPHETISM IN ITS PURITY. 83 

The transformation that prophetism underwent is, 
moreover, marked by the difference in the names given 
to the prophets at different epochs. Originally they 
were called seers; they did not take the name proph- 
ets until later, 1 and then probably because they no 
longer played the part of seers or diviners, but that of 
prophets. What, then, does this latter title mean ? The 
word nabhi, prophet, is interpreted by scholars in two 
ways. Some give to it a passive, others an active, sig- 
nification. According to the former the prophet is above 
all an inspired person; according to the latter he is 
chiefly an interpreter of the will of God among men. 2 
But whatever may be the exact etymological significa- 
tion of the term in question, it is perfectly certain that 
the prophets are regarded at the same time as inspired 
persons and as interpreters of the will of God, as men 
to whom the will of God has been revealed by inspira- 
tion in order that they may communicate it to their 
people. This, as we shall see, is the teaching of a large 
number of passages. For the diviner or the seer, the 
important thing is the sign, the omen, that he sees 
and observes ; for the prophet it is, on the one hand, in- 
spiration, and on the other, the word by which he makes 
known what God has revealed to him. 3 

The prophets are first of all inspired men. They 
represent themselves as filled with the spirit of God 
and directed by him in their ministry. 4 They some- 

1 1 Sam. ix. 9. 2 Block, Introduction, § 178. 

3 Maybaum, pp. 113 f. 

4 Mic. iii. 8 ; Ezck. xi. 5 ; Tsa. xlii. 1 ; xlviii. 10 ; lxi. 1 ; Zech. vii. 12 ; 
comp. Joel ii. 2^ ; Num. xi. 17, 25 IT.; xxiv. 2 ; 1 Sam. x. (J, 10; xix. 
20, 23 ; 2 Kings ii. 0, L5 ; Neh. ix. 30. 



84 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

times describe the action of the divine spirit upon them 
in such terms as these: "The hand of Jehovah was 
on me," i.e. the power of God seized me, the spirit of 
God being regarded as a force, and so compared to the 
hand. 1 The prophet, being clothed with the spirit of 
God, can, therefore, be called "a man of the spirit." 2 

It is the spirit by which God communicates to the 
prophets his revelations. Indeed, the teaching of the 
passages just cited is that the spirit of God is granted 
the prophets that he may reveal to them his will, and 
they majr be fitted to declare his word. 3 God reveals to 
the prophets all that he does. 4 He speaks to them and 
he speaks through them. 5 The prophets also claim to 
declare the genuine word of God, and say, of the false 
prophets, that they prophesy what comes from their own 
hearts and not what comes from the mouth of God, God 
not having spoken to them. 6 

It is God who raises up the prophets and sends them 
to his people. 7 The divine call made itself felt by the 
prophets with such power that they could not resist it. 8 
They were convinced that they would take upon them- 
selves grave responsibility if they neglected to fulfil the 
divine commission that had been entrusted to them. 9 

1 Mic. iii. 8 ; Ezek. iii. 14 ; viii. 1-3 ; comp. i. 3 ; iii.22 ; xxxiii. 22 ; 
xxxvii. 1 ; xl. 1 ; Isa. viii. 11 ; 1 Kings xviii. 46 ; 2 Kings iii. 15. 

2 See Hos. ix. 7, in the original. 

3 Comp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 2 f . ; 1 Kings xxii. 24 ; Zech. vii. 12. 

4 Amos iii. 7. e Hos. xii. 10. 

6 Jer. xiv. 14 ; xxiii. 10, 21 ; Ezek. xiii. 2 ff., 7. 

7 Amos ii. 11 ; vii. 15 ; Isa. vi. 8 ff. ; Jer. i. 7 ; vii. 25 ; xxv. 4 ; 
xxvi. 5 ; xxix. 15, 19 ; xxxv. 15 ; xliv. 4 ; Ezek. ii. 3 ; iii. 4 ff. ; Zech. 
ii. 11 ; iv. 9 ; vi. 15. 

b Amos iii. 8 ; Jer. xx. 7-9. 9 Ezek. iii. 18, 20 ; xxxiii. 8. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 7. PEOPHETISM IN ITS PURITY. 85 

They said of the false prophets that they were not sent 
by God. 1 

It is already clear from what has just been said that 
the prophets were God's interpreters. This is still 
clearer from Ex. vii. 1 and iv. 16. In the former of 
these passages Jehovah says to Moses: "See, I have 
made thee God to Pharaoh, and Aaron, thy brother, 
shall be thy prophet." This means that there shall be 
between Moses and Pharaoh the same relation as be- 
tween God, who makes known his will, and man, to 
whom this will is revealed; and that Aaron shall serve 
as mediator between Moses and Pharaoh, as the prophet 
mediates between God and man. This is expressed 
still more clearly in the second passage, in which 
Jehovah says to Moses that he shall take the place of 
God to Aaron, and that Aaron shall serve as his mouth, 
and speak for him to the people. This is the sense in 
which Jeremiah is designated as the mouth of God. 2 
The prophets are, therefore, God's instruments; God 
places his words in their mouths, and they say what 
God commands them; 3 they play the part of interpre- 
ters among men. 4 

The prophets bear other titles that teach us what 
they were and what they did. They are called watch- 
men and guardians, or keepers, 5 because they watched 
over the conduct of the people, that they might rebuke 

1 Jer. xiv. 14 f. ; xxiii. 21 ; xxvii. 15; xxviii. 15 ; xxix. 31 ; Ezek. 
xiii. 0. 

2 Jer. xv. 19. 

3 Deut. xviii. 18 ; Jer. i. ; comp. Num. xxiii. 5, 12, 16. 

4 Tsa. xliii. 27. 

5 Mic. vii. 4 ; Jer. vi. 17 ; Ezek. iii. 17 ; xxxiii. 7 ; Isa, xxi. 11 f. ; 
lii. 8 ; lvi. 10 ; lxii. 0. 



86 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

it in case of need. This is plainly expressed in three 
passages, — Jer. vi. 27; Ezek. iii. 17; xxxiii. 7. In the 
first, God speaks to the prophet: "I have placed thee 
on the look-out among my people, as a fortress, that 
thou mayst know and search their ways "; and in the 
other two: "I have set thee as a watchman over the 
house of Israel; thou shalt hear the word that goeth 
forth from my mouth, and thou shalt warn them for 
me." In accordance with this line of thought Jere- 
miah could regard himself as a shepherd of his people, 1 
the chief care of a shepherd being, not only to feed 
his flock, but to watch it and protect it from all danger. 
The name watchman or guardian, when applied to the 
prophets, also evidently implies the idea that they see 
better than others what is going to happen, what ap- 
pears in the distance, and must be warded from the 
people. Habakkuk says that he was at his post, that 
he was watching on the top of the tower, listening for 
what Jehovah might say to him, when a prophecy con- 
cerning the approaching punishment of the Chaldeans 
was communicated to him. 2 The prophets are called 
men of God, 3 on account of the peculiar relation that 
exists between them and God. They are called ser- 
vants of Jehovah, 4 because they consecrate their lives 
to his service, and envoys or messengers of Jehovah, 5 
because they are commissioned to carry his commands. 

1 Jer. xvii. 16 ; comp. Zech. xi. 4 ff. 

2 ii. 1 ff. 

3 1 Sam. ii. 27 ; ix. 6 ff. ; 1 Kings xii. 22 ; xiii. 1 ff. ; xvii. 18 ? 24 ; 
xx. 28 ; Jer. xxxv. 4 ; etc. 

4 Amos iii. 7 ; Isa. xx. 3 ; Jer. xxv. 4 ; xxvi. 5 ; xxix. 19 ; xxxv. 
15 ; xliv. 4 ; etc. 

& Isa. xliv. 26 ; Hag. i. 13 ; Mai. iii. 1. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 7. PROPHETISM IN ITS PURITY. 87 

Since the prophets say, on every page of their writ- 
ings, that they declare the word of God, and that God 
has spoken to them, it is necessary for ns to ask in 
what this word consisted, and how it was communicated 
to the prophets. In ancient times it was believed in 
Israel that God spoke to men in the literal sense of 
this word. 1 This is certainly the sense in which it is 
said, in the early biblical documents, that God spoke to 
Adam and his descendants, to Noah and the other patri- 
archs, to Moses and Joshua, and afterwards to the judges 
and the prophets. It was believed that God caused his 
voice to be heard in speaking to men. 2 This, however, 
is not the sense in which the prophets seem to have 
understood the matter. Though they continued to use 
the language that had been adopted when it was be- 
lieved that God spoke after the manner of men, the 
divine word addressed to them was certainly, for them, 
an internal word. 

The prophets also called their prophecies visions ; 
but they did so in imitation of the language of a time 
when actual visions played an important part in proph- 
etism. Yet, from Philo to Hengstenberg, this form of 
expression has been made the basis of the doctrine that, 
at the time of receiving revelations, the prophets were in 
an ecstatic and entirely passive condition. In support 
of this theory, appeal is made to the words above cited, 
in which the prophets are called frenzied or insane men ; 
stress is laid on the condition of exaltation and prostra- 
tion into which Saul is thrown by prophetic inspiration, 
on the condition, somewhat less ecstatic, of Balaam, at 

1 Gen. xviii. ; Ex. xxxiii. 11 ; Num. xii. 8. 

2 Ex. xx. 1 ; Deut. iv. 12 ; 1 Sam. iii. 4 if. ; 1 Kings xix. 13. 



55 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the time of uttering his oracles, and finally on Num. 
xii. 6-8, which says that while Jehovah speaks to Moses, 
mouth to mouth, he reveals himself to the other proph- 
ets only in visions and dreams. 1 

All this proves Conclusively that, among the Israel- 
itish prophets, there existed something like glossolaly, 
an inferior degree of Christian inspiration, 2 and other 
analogous phenomena that have since appeared in the 
church, chiefly under the influence of American Metho- 
dism ; but it does not prove that all the prophets were 
in this condition when they received the divine word. 
Referring to the prophetic books, one discovers, on the 
contrary, with Bleek, 3 Oehler, 4 Schultz, 5 and others, 
that the prophets generally received revelations in a 
perfectly conscious state of mind. Reuss shows, by 
numerous examples, that the visions mentioned in the 
prophetic books are "only symbolic forms of thought 
and consequently simple literary contrivances, rhetorical 
expedients, stylistic ornaments, and nothing more." 6 
One should not allow one's self to be led astray by the 
term vision, which is almost a synonym for prophetic 
and divine word. 7 The prophets say that they have seen 
the words or the discourses that they utter. 8 But the 
passages that we have cited, and others, 9 prove that 
they give the name visions to discourses that have ab- 

1 Tholuck, Die Propheten unci Hire Weissagungen, pp. 49 ff.; [Smith, 
Dictionary, art. Propliet, IV.]. • 

2 1 Cor. xiv. 3 § 183. 4 § 209 ff. 5 1, pp. 274 ff. 

6 Les Prophetes, I. pp. 54 ff. ; comp. Kuenen, Hist. Critique des 
Livres cle V A. T., II. pp. 40 ff. ; [Schultz, I. 278 ff.]. 

7 1 Sam. iii. 1 ; 2 Sam. vii. 17 ; Hos. xii. 10 ; Isa. xxx. 10 ; Ezek. i. 1-3. 

8 Amos i. 1 ; Tsa. ii. 1 ; xiii. 1 ; Hab. i. 1 ; ii. 1 ; comp. 2 Kings viii. 13. 

9 Isa. i. 1 ; Ob. 1 ; Nah. i. 1. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 7. PROPHETISM IN ITS PURITY. 89 

solutely none of the characteristics of a vision, that are 
the result of reflexion. The name vision is given even 
to a prophetic writing that contains historical narratives. 1 
It must, however, be acknowledged that in ancient 
times the term vision was applied to visions properly 
so called. In the passage already cited, Num. xii. 6-8, 
revelation by visions and dreams is contrasted with 
direct revelation, received by Moses in a conscious 
state, and the latter is evidently regarded as more per- 
fect than the former. In imitation of this passage we 
feel obliged to distinguish between two different points 
of view with reference to prophetic revelation, the 
primitive and imperfect on the one hand, and, on the 
other, the higher, which appears in the prophetic books. 
We have seen that dreams and visions play an impor- 
tant part in early prophetism, and that it was disfigured 
by other imperfections. But, under the influence of 
the spirit of God, prophetism developed; it freed itself, 
little by little, from the vulgar art of divination that 
it might fulfil a nobler mission. The seers became 
prophets, God's interpreters among men. Then dreams 
and visions, so far from being considered the means of 
revelation par excellence, were rather disparaged as an 
inferior or even unreliable source of revelation; they 
were contrasted with the genuine word, to which they 
were as the chaff to the wheat. 2 It is only the book of 
Daniel, an apocalypse, by the way, and not a prophecy, 
in which dreams and visions again play an important 
part. 3 

1 2 Chron. xxxii. 32. 

2 Jer. xxiii. 25-P,2 ; xxvii. S) ; xxix. 8 f. ; Zech. x. 2 ; Deut. xiii. 1 ff. 

3 ii. : iv. : vii. f. ; x.-xii. 



90 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

It is wrong, therefore, to conclude from Num. xii. 
6-8 that no prophet except Moses received divine 
revelation otherwise than by dreams and visions. This 
is ignoring numerous facts on the testimony of a single 
statement. If, instead of seeing in this passage a dog- 
matic and infallible assertion, we regard it from the 
historical point of view, we shall reach the following 
conclusion. Since it forms part of document A, it 
belongs to the period of early prophetism, when inspi- 
ration was inseparable from a sort of ecstasy, when 
dreams and visions were the customary means of reve- 
lation. Our author, however, had sufficiently sound 
ideas to perceive the imperfections of such a prophet- 
ism, and took pains to show that Moses had received 
revelations of a higher and purer sort. Thus it appears 
that ancient prophetism was early felt to be imperfect. 

All this shows that those who claim that the prophets, 
when inspired, were in an ecstatic and semi-conscious 
condition, have in mind primitive and imperfect proph- 
etism, and that they ignore the growth of prophetism 
from the divinatory and visionary to the higher stage 
that we have shown it to have attained. The two kinds 
of Christian inspiration that St. Paul describes, 1 Cor. 
xiv. , evidently have a close analogy with the two kinds 
of prophetism in ancient Israel, and, as the apostle 
places simple evangelical preaching above glossolaly, so 
we must place simple prophetic preaching above the 
earlier ecstatic prophetism. Riehm says, and justly, 
that the more ecstatic prophetic inspiration is, the more 
nearly it is related to an inferior stage of prophetism. 1 
And Bertheau declares, with no less justice, that the 
1 Messianic Prophecy, p. 25. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 8. UNITY AND SPIRITUALITY. 91 

history of prophetism shows that the less constantly the 
prophets enjoyed communion with God, the more they 
were inclined to represent the divine power as an ex- 
ternal force taking possession of them and making 
them mere instruments of its will. 1 



§ 8. UNITY" ATO SPIKITUALITY OP GOD, 

We must now explain the essential principles of the 
theology of the prophets, if indeed the employment of 
so pretentious an expression is allowable. As a matter 
of fact the prophets had no theology. They were 
preachers, not theologians. They were men of action, 
and not theorists or scientists. What engrossed them 
was practical life, not theories, abstract ideas, and still 
less a theological system. One finds in their works 
profound thoughts, grand religious and moral princi- 
ples, but not a theology properly so called. It is^ 
therefore, better to speak simply of the religion of the 
prophets than of their theology as it is the custom 
to do. 

The fundamental idea of the religion of the prophets is 
that of the covenant of Jehovah with Israel ; this appears 
from every age of their writings. We have already 
discussed it in the preceding pages, because from the 
beginning it lies at the foundation of the religion of 
Israel. What we now have to examine is, first of all, 
the idea that the prophets formed of the God of the cov- 
enant. For the one that we have hitherto met is not 

1 Jahrbiicher fur deutsche Theol., 1859, p. 010; comp. Kohler, Der 
Prophetismus der Hebraer mid die Mantik der Griechen, p. 97; [W. 
R. Smith, Prophets, pp. 219ff.]. 



92 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

that of our period. The prophets have risen to the idea 
of the absolute unity of God; they have generally 
attained to much purer conceptions of the Deity than 
the early Israelites. 

I. Unity of Grod. 

When did the Israelites begin to free themselves 
from primitive and imperfect notions to rise to pure 
monotheism ? Baudissin, in the excellent treatise which 
he has devoted to this subject, reaches the conclusion 
that Israelitish monotheism passed through three suc- 
cessive phases : it originally consisted in the worship of 
a single national god, and did not exclude the existence 
of other gods ; in this form it existed perhaps among the 
Hebrews before Moses ; later, especially after the prophet 
Hosea, they rose to the belief in a single God, but con- 
sidered solely in his relations to Israel; finally, at the 
time of Jeremiah, they attained to strict monotheism, 
to the idea of a single God for all the peoples of the 
earth. 1 We must examine this question more closely. 

Document A represents Jehovah as the Creator of 
the universe, and the God of the parents of the human 
race, 2 as the Lord of the world, 3 who destroys again, by 
the deluge, all that exists, 4 who confounds the speech 
of all men, and scatters them over the whole earth, 5 
whose name and power must be heralded everywhere, 6 
who judges all the earth, 7 and executes his decrees 

1 Studien, I. pp. 175 ft ; [Montefiore, pp. 134 ft ; 214 ft]. 

2 Gen. ii.-iv. 

3 Gen. xiv. 19, 22 ; xxiv. 3, 7 ; Ex. ix. 29 ; xix. 5 ; Num. xiv. 21 ; 
Deut. xxxii. 8, 22 ; Josh. ii. 11 ; iii. 11, 13. 

* Gen. vi. 5 ft 5 Gen. xi. 1-9. 

e Ex. ix. 16 ; Josh. iv. 24. 7 Gen. xviii. 25. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 8. UNITY AND SPIRITUALITY. 93 

among all nations, 1 who is truly the God of the spirits of 
all flesh. 2 

Here, then, in document A, are universal conceptions 
sufficiently decided to seem to imply strict monotheism, 
the idea that Jehovah is the sole God of the entire world. 
It is not, however, absolutely certain that this is the 
case. In ancient times the creator of heaven and earth 
was not necessarily regarded as the only God, but only 
as the supreme God. 3 Alongside of him there was room 
for other gods, quite as real as he, but inferior to him in 
power and dignity. Baudissin justly remarks that all 
the heathen peoples, although they believed in the reality 
of foreign gods, narrated the history of primitive human- 
ity as if their gods had ruled alone at that time ; that 
there is no essential difference between this point of 
view and that taken by document A in the first chap- 
ters of Genesis.* 

It is the same with the control over other peoples 
attributed to Jehovah. It implies only the idea that 
he is a God of incomparable might, that no other god 
equals him in power. This is the way in which the 
old song, Ex. xv., views the subject. It sings the 
might of Jehovah, who manifests himself in the anni- 
hilation of the Egyptian army, and the deliverance of 
the children of Israel, but without rising above the idea 
expressed in the sentence: "Who is like thee among 
the gods, O Jehovah ? " 5 It must, moreover, be ob- 
served that when Jehovah executes his decrees upon 
other nations, it is generally in favor of Israel; so 

1 Gen. xii. 17 ; xviii. f. ; xx. 1 ff. ; Ex. xv. ; vii. 14 if. ; etc. 

2 Num. x. 22 ; xxvii. 1(5. ;! Sec (Jen. xiv. 10, 22. 
4 Studien, I. pp. 163 f. ; [Schultz, I. pp. 182 IT.]. 

"v. 11 ; roiii]). Deut. xwiii. 26 f. 



94 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

that, even in this respect he appears simply as the 
national God, as the Gocl of his chosen people. 1 

What allows us, however, to suppose that even be- 
fore Hosea certain minds in Israel had already attained 
to pure monotheism, is that, in the song found Deut. 
xxxii., which probably belongs to an earlier day, idols 
are treated as not-gods and vanities, 2 and Jehovah 
alone is declared Gocl. 3 In other passages, which are 
of at least as early a date as document A, we find this 
same declaration, that besides Jehovah there is no God. 4 
Baudissin seeks to restrict the force of some of these 
passages, 5 but he seems to us to be wrong. 

If we turn to the early prophetical books, we find in 
Amos the assertion that the foreign gods are simply 
lies. 6 Baudissin, it is true, thinks that this designa- 
tion, as used by the prophet, does not imply that the 
idols have no reality, but that they are not able to ren- 
der their worshippers the help desired, and that they 
disappoint the expectation placed in them. 7 In the 
same prophecy Jehovah is also represented as the creator 
of all that exists, 8 and the judge of other nations as well 
as of Judah and Israel. 9 But, as we have already 
seen, this does not necessarily mean that Jehovah is the 
only God. 

Hosea calls the calf of Samaria a not-god, that has 
been fashioned by a workman. I0 He says of idols : " They 
are all the work of artisans," 11 and elsewhere: "We 

1 Comp. Baudissin, Stndien, I. pp. 158 ff. ; [Schultz, I. pp. 181 f /|. 
*vv. 17, 21. s v. 39. 

4 1 Sam. ii. 2 ; 2 Sam. vii. 22 ; xxii. 32 ; comp. Ps. xviii. 31. 

5 Studien, I. pp. 72, 101. 6 ii. 4. 

7 Studien, I. p. 100. 8 iv. 13 ; v. 8 ; ix. 6. 9 i. f . ; ix. 5 ff. 

10 viii. 5 f. ; comp. v. 4. n xiii. 2. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 8. UNITY AND SPIRITUALITY. 95 

will no longer say to the work of our hands : Our God ! " 1 
or: "The people consult their stock." 2 He says, ad- 
dressing Israel in the name of Jehovah: "Thou knowest 
no God but me, and there is no saviour besides me." 3 

Isaiah and the contemporary prophets also represent 
idols as the work of men's hands. 4 In their writings 
Jehovah appears as the lord of all peoples, and the 
governor of the entire world, 5 as the one who will 
sometime be worshipped by all nations. 6 Isaiah calls 
idols simply elilim, things of nought. 7 

But according to Baudissin, this does not prove that, 
for the prophets, these deities have no existence ; they 
teach but one thing, i.e. that, for Israel, idols are inani- 
mate images, that can give the people of Jehovah no aid ; 
when they declare that all peoples will turn to the God 
of Israel, they mean simply that the gentiles will aban- 
don the worship of their own gods to worship Jehovah 
because he is a greater God; the promises in question 
do not go so far as to say that these gods do not exist; 
Jeremiah and Deuteronomy are the first to teach posi- 
tively that, besides Jehovah, there is no God. 8 

We cheerfully admit that from the time of Jeremiah 
the absolute nothingness of all gods besides Jehovah 
was better understood and the unity of God asserted 
more categorically in Israel, 9 while more stress was laid 

i xiv. 3. 2 iv. 12. 3 xiii. 4. 

4 Isa. ii. 8 ; xvii. 8 ; xxxi. 7 ; Mic. v. 13. 

5 Isa. x. 5 ft ; xv. ff. ; Mic. iv. 11 ft ; Zech. ix. 1 ff. 
G Mic. iv. 1 ff. ; Isa. ii. 2-4 ; xviii. 7 ; xix. 18-25. 

7 ii. 8, 18, 20 ; x. 10 f. ; xix. 1, 3; xxxi. 7. 

8 Studien, I. pp. 100, 166 ft". ; [Montefiore, Lectures, pp. 214 ff.]. 

9 Deut. iv. 35, 30 ; vi. 4 ; Isa. xliii. 10-12 ; xliv. G, 8 ; xlv. 5 f., 14, 
18, 21 f. : xlvi. 0. 



96 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

upon the nothingness of idols. 1 But we are inclined 
to think that even before that, from the time of Amos 
and Hosea, perhaps an earlier date, as seems to be 
taught by some passages of document A and the books 
of Samuel, certain minds had risen to the idea that 
Jehovah alone is truly God. We will admit that this 
idea found expression only at intervals, and at first 
waked but a faint echo in Israel ; that the early prophets 
considered first of all the relations existing between 
Jehovah and Israel and sought to impress upon Israel 
the duty of serving only Jehovah. But we have the 
conviction that for Isaiah, who repeatedly declares that 
idols are only things of naught, for Hosea, who reiter- 
ates the statement that they are only wood, and human 
productions, and for still others, their contemporaries, 
idols had absolutely no reality. 2 

II. Spirituality of God. 

We have seen that the ancient Israelites pictured 
God to themselves in the form of man. Even the doc- 
uments of our period swarm with the boldest anthropo- 
morphisms. It is therefore superfluous to ask if the 
people Israel conceived of their God as a personal God. 
There is no possibility of doubt on this point. We 
must rather ask if God was not conceived as too per- 
sonal, too human ; if his personality is not asserted at 
the expense of his spirituality. This is certainly the 

1 Deut. iv. 28 ; Jer. ii. 11, 27 f. ; iii. 9 ; v. 7 ; viii. 19 ; -x. 1-16 ; xvi. 
18-20 ; xviii. 15 ; Hab. ii. 18 f. ; Isa. xl. 18-20 ; xli. 7, 21-24, 29 ; xliv. 
9-20 ; xlix. 1-7. 

2 [Kuenen, Beligion of Israel, I. pp. 45 ff.] 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 8. UNITY AND SPIRITUALITY. 97 

case in earlier times, and to some extent even in our 
period. But there is the less reason for wondering 
at these imperfections, as even now Christian people, 
wherever they have received but scant culture, cherish 
analogous ideas. 

Yet, on this subject also, the prophets, freeing them- 
selves from the gross ideas of early times, rose to purer 
conceptions. It is only necessary to recall the follow- 
ing statements: Jehovah is God, and not man; 1 he has 
not fleshly eyes, neither sees he as men see ; 2 he neither 
slumbers nor sleeps, 3 neither does he weary; 4 he neither 
eats nor drinks; 5 in fine, he cannot be likened to any- 
thing terrestrial; 6 the heights of heaven [literally, the 
heaven of heavens] would not hold him. 7 

This last passage is particularly instructive. It 
is taken from the prayer that the author of the books of 
Kings places in the mouth of Solomon on the occasion 
of the dedication of the temple, which, however, doubt- 
less belongs to a much later date. It shows that the 
author had comparatively pure and lofty conceptions of 
God. And yet, in this same prayer, the heavens are 
regarded as the abode of Jehovah. 8 This latter fact 
shows clearly that even those who had risen above pop- 
ular and imperfect ideas still used the faulty language 
of the people. This, however, should not surprise us, 
since, to this day, preachers often find themselves 
obliged to do thus to suit themselves to the capacity 
of their hearers. 

On the other hand, it must be admitted that we no- 

1 Hos. xi. 9. 2 Job. x. 4. » j> s . x ji. i, 4. 4 i >sa> x i. 28. 

r > I\s. 1. 1.3. 8 Isa, xl. IK. ' 1 Kings viii. 27. 

8 1 Kings viii. 30, 32, 34, 36, He 



98 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

where, in the Old Testament, find the statement that 
God is a pure spirit. Schultz, following de Wette, 
asserts, and justly, that even in the writings of the 
prophets, the spirituality of God is conceived, not in 
a metaphysical, but in an anthropological and popular 
fashion : that, according to them, God is spiritual as is 
the human intellect, in contrast with that which is sen- 
sual ; that the most explicit statement on this subject is 
found in the following passage of Isaiah: x "The Egyp- 
tian is man and not God; his horses are flesh and not 
spirit." 2 He says further that it is not the spirituality 
of God, least of all in the philosophical and absolute 
sense, that, under the old covenant, forms the founda- 
tion of faith in God, but his complete and living per- 
sonality, conceived in all simplicity like the personality 
of man ; that the philosophical idea of the spirituality 
of God nowhere finds expression in the Old Testament; 
that God is conceived in a religious and not in a phil- 
osophical fashion. 3 

It is of course impossible to conclude from the pas- 
sages in which there is reference to the spirit of God, 
that God is a pure spirit, since the spirit of God was 
spoken of as we ourselves speak of the spirit of man. 
It must, as we have already said, be frankly admitted 
that the prophets were not, and did not wish to be, 
theologians or philosophers, schoolmen, but men of 
action, and that, in their works, religious thought is 
very imperfect. It must, however, also be admitted 
that their religious life was strong enough to bear with- 
out disadvantage some purely theoretical imperfections. 

i xxxi. 3. 2 II. pp. 112 f. ; comp. de Wette, Bibl. Dogmatik, § 100. 
3 II. pp. 110 f. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 99 

Though Jewish scholasticism first, and Christian scho- 
lasticism afterwards, have succeeded in correcting, on 
some points, the religious thought of the Hebrew 
prophets, they have always displayed great lack of the 
mighty inspiration from on high which was the chief 
strength and will be the lasting glory of these men of 
God. 

§ 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 
I. Names of God. 

In order to a better understanding of the idea of God 
in Israel, we must consider the names that are given to 
him in the documents of the first two periods. In the 
Old Testament, names, least of all proper names, are 
not arbitrary designations; they denote the character- 
istics of the persons or things to which they are applied. 
This is the case- with the names of God; they tell what 
God is. 

1. Jehovah. — We begin with the name Jehovah, 
which we find in the oldest documents. It is the proper 
name of the God of Israel. Therefore the Old Testa- 
ment never gives it to foreign gods. If we should suc- 
ceed in grasping its exact signification, we should know 
what idea the Israelites, from ancient times, formed of 
their God. Unfortunately scholars have not yet been 
able to agree on this subject. We can, nevertheless, 
put aside the numerous explanations that give to. the 
name Jehovah a metaphysical signification. The Isra- 
elites gave it to their God at a time when, far from 
busying themselves with metaphysics, they still had 
very rude conceptions of the Deity. Two interpreta- 



100 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

tions only deserve to be taken into account: that pro- 
posed by Schrader, which has won many adherents, and 
that which Dillmann, among others, defends in a very 
satisfactory manner. 

The name Jehovah, in Hebrew Yahiveh, probably 
comes from the root hayali or haivah, be. Schrader 
claims that it is a Hiphil, and that its significance is, 
not he who is, as Ex. iii. 14 would have it, he who pos- 
sesses life, but he who provides life, who is the author 
of it, who is the creator. 1 Let us first observe that 
Yahiveh can be a Qal as well as a Hiphil. From the 
grammatical point of view, therefore, the biblical inter- 
pretation, "he who is," is as well founded as that of 
Schrader. Besides, we are inclined to believe that this 
scholar is not in the right because his explanation is too 
metaphysical, and does not harmonize with the religious 
ideas of the early Israelites. They did not regard Jeho- 
vah as above all the Creator, the author of all that 
exists, but as their king and their protector. 

We find an interpretation of this name, Ex. iii., 
which belongs to document A. We read there as fol- 
lows: When God wished to send Moses to the children 
of Israel to deliver them from Egyptian servitude, he 
said: "I will go then to the children of Israel and say 
to them: The God of your fathers sends me to you. 
But if they ask me what his name is, what shall I an- 
swer them ? " And God replied to him : " I am he who 
is." He afterwards commissioned him to go and say to 
the children of Israel : " It is Ehyeh (I am) who sends 
me to you." "It is Yahiveh (He who is), the God of 
your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 
1 Bibel-Lexikon, art. Jehova ; [comp. KAT on Gen. ii. 4 6]. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 101 

and the God of Jacob, who sends me to you. This is 
my name forever." x 

This interpretation of the name of Jehovah seems per- 
fectly correct from the etymological point of view. It 
should not then be placed on the same level with the 
false etymologies that are found in large numbers in 
the Old Testament and even in document A. 2 How- 
ever, the adoption of this interpretation does not enable 
one to grasp the exact signification of the term under 
discussion. Many of those who have adopted it have 
found in the name Jehovah only the assertion of the 
real or the eternal existence of God. Hence the well- 
known [French] rendering: V Eternel. But the most 
accomplished scholars now reject this too abstract in- 
terpretation, and adopt another and simpler. Dill- 
mann is of the number. He points out that the passage, 
Ex. iii., lays stress on the fact that Jehovah is the God 
of the fathers, and that in this respect he remained for 
the people what he was for their ancestors. He there- 
fore concludes that the name Jehovah must be a re- 
minder that the God of Israel is and will be always the 
same, that he is unchangeable, not in the metaphysical, 
but in the moral sense. He adds that several passages 3 
prove this signification to have been accepted in later 
times. 4 The name Jehovah, then, taken in the sense 
of moral immutability, would imply the idea of the 
faithfulness of God, as lias been perceived by Haver- 
nick, 5 Oehler, 6 and Schultz. 7 

1 vv. 13-15. 2 Dillmann on Ex. iii. 14 f. ; [Delitzsch on (Jen. ii. \ h \. 

3 IIos. xii. 4-0 ; Isa. xxvi. 4 ; Mai. iii. 0. 

4 ExodllS a. I.crilirus, ]>. 35. 

5 Theologie 'Irs A. 7', 2 ed., i> 16. ,; $ :i!>. ' II. p. 138. 



102 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

We prefer this latter interpretation, because origi- 
nally, and ever afterwards, the unchangeable faithful- 
ness of God was of prime importance from the standpoint 
of the religion of Israel, which had as a foundation the 
covenant between the people and God, and as a cap- 
stone the most glowing divine promises. What was of 
most importance to Israel was to know that God re- 
mained faithful to his promises, to the covenant estab- 
lished. This is exceedingly well expressed, Deut. vii. 
9, where it is said that Jehovah is a faithful God, who 
keeps his covenant and his mercy. The early documents 
also very frequently extol the faithfulness of God, at 
times connecting this attribute with the name Jehovah. 
We read, Ex. xxxiv. 5 f., that Jehovah passed before 
Moses and proclaimed his name, saying: "Jehovah, 
Jehovah, merciful and compassionate God, slow to 
anger, rich in grace and faithfulness ! " In the old 
song, Deut. xxxii., the sacred poet, after having invoked 
heaven and earth to hearken to the solemn words about 
to follow, proceeds, v. 3, in these terms: "I will pro- 
claim the name of Jehovah. Give glory to our God! 
He is the rock. . . . He is a faithful God and without 
iniquity; he is just and upright." Jehovah is here 
called the rock. This designation must evidently 
denote his unshakable faithfulness. The song several 
times calls Jehovah by this name. 1 In other passages 
more or less early, Jehovah is called the rock of Israel, 
a rock for all times, or, in parallelism, to express the 
same idea, a buckler, a fortress, a sure refuge. 2 Hosea, 

1 vv. 15, 18, 30 f. 

2 Isa. xxx. 29 ; xxvi. 4 ; Ps. xviii. 2, 30 ; xxviii. 1 ; xxxi. 2 f. ; xlii. 
9 ; lxxxix. 18, 26 ; xci. 4 ff., 9 ff. ; cxliv. 1 f£. 



SECOND PERIOD. § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 103 

addressing Israel in Jehovah's name, says: "I will 
betroth thee to me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know 
Jehovah." 1 He calls Jehovah the faithful Holy One. 2 
We will quote one more early passage in which the 
unchangeableness and faithfulness as well as the truth- 
fulness of Jehovah are admirably described: "God is 
not man, that he should lie, nor a son of man that he 
should repent. What he hath said, will he not do? 
What he hath uttered, will he not perform?" 3 Else- 
where we find declarations of the same sort, expressing 
the idea that Jehovah does not recall his word, that he 
neither changes nor repents, that he keeps his promises 
and fulfils his threats. 4 

It appears from all the above passages, — and many 
others of the same import might be cited, — that the 
prophets, and the Israelites generally, far from engag- 
ing in transcendental speculations concerning God, or 
approaching the idea of God from the metaphysical side, 
attached so much the more importance to his moral 
perfections, especially his unchangeable faithfulness. 

2. Jehovah, God of Hosts. — We must, in the second 

place, consider a name of God composed of Sebhaoth, 

hosts, and Yahzveh or Elohim (God), or both: Yahiveh 

Sebhaoth. Elohe Sebhaoth. Yahtveh Elohe Sebhaoth. 5 This 
j ' ? ? 

composite name is not used in all the books of the Old 
Testament. It is not met in the oldest documents, 

i ii. 20. 2 xi. 12. 

3 Num. xxiii. 19 ; comp. 1 Sam. xv. 29. 

4 Isa. xxxi. 2 ; Ezek. xxiv. 14 ; xvii. 24 ; Zech. viii. 14 f. ; Mai. iii. 6 ; 
Ps. cii. 25-27 ; ex. 4. 

5 1 Sam. i. •'}; iv. 4 ; Amos iii. 13 ; iv. P'> ; Hos. xii. 5 ; Zech. ix. 16 ; 
x. .'5 ; Mic. iv. 4 ; Isa, i. 9, 24 ; v. 24 ; Jer. ii. 19 ; vi. 0, 9 ; Ps. lxxx. 
7, 14. 



104 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

and it disappears again after the Exile. It is found 
especially in the books 01 Samuel, those of Kings, a 
number of prophetical books, from Amos to Isaiah, and 
in a series of psalms. 

In order to get the true signification of this name we 
must allow ourselves to be guided by the word Sebha- 
oth. Now this plural always denotes terrestrial armies, 
more particularly those of Israel. On this fact has 
been based the opinion that the name Yahweh, or Elolie, 
Sebhaoth denotes only the God of the hosts of Israel. 1 
Others, on the contrary, claim that it denotes chiefly 
or only the God of the celestial hosts, the stars and the 
angels. 2 Havernick, in his turn, asserts that this name 
takes its origin from Gen. ii. 1, and that the term 
Sebhaoth includes all the creatures of God, and not 
merely the army of Israel or the stars. 3 Still others 
maintain that originally this name referred only to the 
hosts of Israel, but that afterwards it was applied also 
to the starry and angelic hosts. 4 We think that the 
last come nearest to the truth. 

Even in the song of Deborah, as well as all the rest 
of the Old Testament, the wars of Israel are regarded 
as the wars of Jehovah. 5 In the oldest documents, 



1 Baur on Ps. xxiv. 10, in de Wette's Commentary, 5 ed. ; Schrader, 
Bibel-Lexikon, V. pp. 702 f. ; Jahrbilcher far prot. TheoL, 1875, pp. 
319 1; [Schultz, II. 1391]. 

2 Hupfeld and Delitzsch on Ps. xxiv. 10 ; Oehler, §§ 195 ff. ; Reuss, 
Les Prophetes, I. pp. 32 f. ; [Cheyne on Isa. i. 9]. 

3 Theologie des A. T 7 ., pp. 48 f. 

4 De Wette, Archeologie, § 97 ; von Colin, Bib. Theologie, I. pp. 
104 f. ; Schultz, II. pp. 139 f. 

5 Jud. v. 23; comp. vii. 18, 20; 1 Sam. xvii. 47; xviii. 17; 
xxv. 28 ; etc. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 105 

when Israel is at war with another people, it is Jehovah 
who directs the conflict, and, when Israel obtains the 
victory, it is Jehovah to whom the glory redounds. 1 
Jehovah is very early represented as a warrior. 2 A 
document perhaps older than any that we now possess 
bore the title : " Wars of Jehovah." 3 It is in all proba- 
bility this mode of thought that gave rise to the name 
YaJiweh Sebhaoth. The hosts of Jehovah were at first the 
armies of Israel, as 1 Sam. xvii. 45 says in so many 
words. 

It is possible to show from a series of passages that 
the host or hosts of Jehovah are the stars 4 and the 
angels 5 or even all creatures. 6 It must, however, be 
observed that these passages almost all belong to late 
documents that do not employ the plural Sebhaoth; so 
that the origin and primitive signification of this name 
of God are not to be sought in them. 

It is clearly necessary to suppose a development and 
to some extent a transformation of the original idea of 
this name. It had at first a restricted sense, was applied 
only to the army or people of Israel, Jehovah being 
regarded solely as the national God of this people. But, 
little by little, it acquired a broader, more general sig- 
nification, and finally, when Jehovah was recoomized as 
the only true God and the creator of all things, it came 
to include all the works of creation. It even became 

1 Jud. v. ; Ex. xv. ; comp. Ex. xiv. 14 ; Jud. iv. 14 ; 2 Sam. v. 24. 

2 Ex. xv. 3. 8 Num. xxi. 14. 

4 Jer. xxxiii. 22 ; Isa. xl. 20 ; xxxiv. 4 ; Neh. ix. 6 ; Ps. xxxiii. 6. 

5 Josh. v. 14 f. ; comp. (Jen. xxxii. 1 f. ; Dent, xxxiii. 2; 1 Kings 
xxii. 19; 2 Kings vi. 10 f. ; Isa. xxiv. 21 ; Job i. if.; ii. 1 11.; 
Ps. lxxxix. 5-7 ; cxlviii. '2. 

c Ts. ciii. 21 f. ; cxlviii. 2 ff. ; (Jen. ii. 1. 



106 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

synonymous with almighty creator, supreme ruler, 
governor of the entire world; for the Seventy in many 
passages render it iravroKpaTwp. 1 Though, in the be- 
ginning, this name was simply intended as a reminder 
that Jehovah was the head of the army or of the people 
Israel, that he directed the conflicts of Israel and secured 
them victory, afterwards, as we have just seen, when 
the religious horizon was broadened, it took a broader 
and higher signification. 

3. The Holy One of Israel. — The Old Testament not 
only predicates of Jehovah holiness ; it also calls him 
the Holy One or the Holy One of Israel. This, again, 
is one of the names of God. It is fitting, therefore, 
that we should speak of it at this point. 

What does the Old Testament mean by the holiness 
of God? To this question scholars have given very 
divergent answers. 2 Nor is the etymology decisive. 3 
It is, however, certain that the English word holy is 
far from being an exact rendering of the Hebrew term 
qadhosh. We must, therefore, by a careful study of 
the original, gain an exact idea of the meaning of holi- 
ness in Hebrew literature. This is what Baudissin has 
undertaken in the excellent study already quoted, which 
will doubtless put an end to the arbitrary and erroneous 
explanations hitherto given of the term and the concep- 
tion under discussion. 

Even in the old passage : " Who is like thee among 
the gods, O Jehovah? Who is like thee, glorious in 

1 2 Sam. v. 10 ; vii. 8, 25, 27 ; 1 Kings xix. 10, 14 ; Amos iii. 13 ; 
iv. 13 ; etc. 

2 Baudissin, Studien, II. pp. 5 ff. ; [Schultz, II. pp. 167 f.]. 

3 Baudissin, Studien, II. pp. 19 ff. ; [ W. R. Smith, Prophets, 
p. 224]. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 107 

holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders?" 1 — the 
holiness of God denotes his majesty, his greatness, his 
exaltation, his matchlessness. Another old song calls 
God holy, thereby meaning that he is incomparable and 
infinitely exalted. 2 It even seems as if this epithet, 
placed at the beginning of the song, must sum up all 
the other perfections of God that are celebrated in it, 
denoting chiefly his supreme power. 3 In the prophecy 
of Hosea, Jehovah says : " I am God, and not a man ; I 
am the Holy One in the midst of thee. " 4 He reproaches 
Juclah with their inconstancy toward God, the faithful 
Holy One. 5 It is evident that here the terms God and 
Holy One are synonymous. It is well known that, in 
first and second Isaiah, Jehovah is very often called the 
Holy One of Israel, or simply the Holy One, i.e. the 
God of Israel or the true God. 6 It is the same else- 
where. 7 According to Ezekiel God makes himself 
known as Jehovah, the God of Israel, the mighty and 
true God, by sanctifying himself or manifesting his 
holiness. 8 It is, moreover, to be observed that God 
swears by his holiness 9 as he swears by himself. 10 

Holiness then seems to be synonymous with divinity. 
Baudissin, in fact, justly maintains that the Hebrew 

1 Ex. xv. 11. 2 1 Sam. ii. 2. 

3 Comp. Isa. xl. 25 ft. ; Ps. lxxvii. 13 ff. 

4 xi. 9. 5 xi. 12. 

G Isa. i. 4 ; v. 19, 24, etc. ; xl. 25 ; xli. 14, 16, 20, etc. 

7 IIos. xi. 12; Job vi. 10; Hal), i. 12; iii. 3; Jer. 1. 29; li. 5; 
Ezek. xxxix. 7 ; Ps. lxxi. 22 ; lxxviii. 41 ; lxxxix. 18. 

8 xx. 41 f. ; xxviii. 22 ; xxxvi. 23 ; xxxviii. 10, 23 ; xxxix. 7 ; comp. 
Baudissin, Studien, II. pp. 80 ff. 

9 Amos iv. 2 ; Ps. lxxxix. 35; lx. 6. 

10 Gen. xxii. 10 ; Ex. xxxii. 13 ; Amos vi. 8 ; Jer. xxii. 5 ; xlix. 13 ; 
li. 14 ; Isa. xlv. 23. 



108 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

said holy where we say divine or heavenly. 1 Conse- 
quently holiness, when predicated of Jehovah, denotes 
not so much one of his peculiar attributes, as the en- 
tirety of his divine character. We shall find what we 
have just asserted confirmed further on, where we shall 
see that angels are called holy ones, and gods or sons 
of gods. The English expression that best expresses the 
idea of holiness in the sense of the Old Testament is 
divine exaltation or majesty. It is only necessary to 
examine the numerous passages in which, under various 
forms, there is reference to the divine holiness, to be 
convinced that they most frequently convey the idea of 
divine glory, majesty, exaltation, greatness. 

Holiness in the sense of the English word, denoting 
the opposite of moral evil, is seldom expressed by the 
word qadhesh and its derivatives, though it is attributed 
to God in the whole Old Testament. It can be proven 
from every page that the God of Israel hates evil and 
loves only good. The book of Job especially gives a 
very exalted idea of the holiness of God thus under- 
stood. It says that God finds even the angels guilty of 
sin. 2 Some portions of Hebrew literature, especially 
document C, 3 also predicate of God holiness as con- 
trasted with Levitical uncleanness. Hence the numer- 
ous instances in which uncleanness of this sort is for- 
bidden in the Pentateuch. On account of his holiness, 
God is also exalted above all that is profane, resenting 
the profanation of his holy name. 4 

1 Pp. 79, 114 f ., 124 f . 2 iv. 18 ; xv. 15 ; comp. xxv. 4-6 ; Hab. i. 13. 

3 Lev. xi. 44 f.; xix. 2 ; xx. 7, 26. 

4 Amos ii. 7 ; Ezek. xx. 22, 39 ; xxxvi. 20-23 ; xxxix. 7, 25 ; xliii. 
7 f. ; Isa. xliii. 27 f. ; Mai. i. 11 f. ; Lev. xx. 3 ; xxii. 2, 32. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 109 

The holiness of God bears an intimate relation to his 
jealousy, his wrath, and his vengeance. The connec- 
tion between the holiness of God and his jealousy is 
indicated even in document A, in which Joshua says 
to the people: "Ye cannot serve Jehovah, for he is a 
holy God, he is a jealous God." 1 According to Oehler 
the jealousy of God is nothing but his holiness active, 
breaking forth. 2 What most provokes the jealousy of 
God is the idolatry of Israel, the worship paid by them 
to other gods. 3 Schultz justly remarks that the idea of 
the jealousy of God rests on that of the conjugal union 
between him and his people. 4 Hence the use of the 
word adultery to designate idolatry in Israel. But 
God is also moved to jealousy for his people when he 
sees them in a condition of distress or humiliation. 5 
This latter sentiment, called jealousy with reference to 
foreign peoples and oppressors, may change to pity for 
Israel. 6 It is this sort of jealousy that Moses and 
Joshua seek to arouse in God in order to placate him 
toward his people and change his wrath into for- 
giveness. 7 

The wrath of God, like his jealousy, is a result, a 
manifestation, of his holiness. 8 This appears very 
clearly, Ezek. xxxviii. 18-23, where it is said that, in 

1 Josh. xxiv. 10. 2 § 48 ; comp. Schultz, II. pp. 175 ff. 

3 Ex. xx. 3-5; xxxiv. 13 f. ; Deut. xxxii. 10, 21; iv. 23 f.; vi. 
14 f. ; xxix. 18-20 ; Ps. lxxviii. 58. 4 II. p. 177. 

5 Ezek. xxxvi. 5 ; Joel ii. 18 ; 2 Kings xix. .31 ; Zech. i. 14 ; viii. 2. 

6 Joel ii. 18. 

7 Ex. xxxii. 11 ff. ; Num. xiv. 13 ff. ; Dent. ix. 25 ff. ; Josh. vii. 
7 ff. 

8 Oehler, § 48; Schultz, II. pp. 175 f. ; Ritschl, Bechtfertigung u. 
Versohnuny, II. p. 137. 



110 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

his jealousy and his wrath, Jehovah will execute judg- 
ment upon the country of Israel, and thus glorify and 
sanctify himself. Deut. xxxii. 16 and 22 fT. show that 
the jealousy aroused in God by the idolatry of Israel 
afterwards kindles his wrath and impels him to punish 
the guilty. The same is the case in Deut. vi. 15 and 
Ps. lxxviii. 58 f. These passages show to some extent 
what idea Israel had of the wrath of God. Other illus- 
trations, drawn exclusively from early passages, will 
confirm the above result. 

In the old song, Ex. xv., the poet, speaking to Je- 
hovah, cries: "In the greatness of thy majesty thou 
overthrowest thy adversaries ; thou loosest thy wrath ; 
it consumeth them as stubble." 1 

In another song in document A, the poet says to the 
people: "Thou hast forsaken the Rock that gendered 
thee, and thou hast forgotten the God that begot thee. 
Jehovah saw it, and he became angry, indignant at his 
sons and his daughters." 2 The wrath of God is kindled 
against Moses, when he hesitates to betake himself to 
Egypt to deliver the children of Israel. 3 It is inflamed 
against the people Israel after they have made the 
golden calf. 4 The wrath of God, then, breaks forth 
whenever his will encounters opposition, when it is 
ignored or transgressed, and it manifests itself in severe 
penalties. It is to be observed that there are references 
to the wrath of God throughout Hebrew literature, and 
that thej are most frequent in the documents dating 
from the time when prophetism had reached its apogee, 
Deuteronomy and Jeremiah. This proves that at that 

i v. 7. 2 Deut. xxxii. 18 f. 

3 Ex. iv. 14. 4 Ex. xxxii. 10 ft 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. Ill 

time God was still represented after a very human 
fashion. 

The vengeance of God appears as a consequence of 
his jealousy and his anger. This could not be better 
expressed than by Nah. i. 2: "Jehovah is a jealous 
God, he avengeth himself; Jehovah avengeth himself, 
he cherisheth malice toward his enemies." Micah, 
likewise, makes Jehovah say: "In my wrath and my 
fury I will execute vengeance upon the nations who 
have not hearkened." 1 Similar words are found, Ezek. 
xxv. 14, 17. Further, in later as well as in earlier 
passages, there are references to the vengeance of God, 
who sometimes punishes Israel for their disobedience, 
and sometimes smites the foreign peoples who have 
oppressed Israel and are treated as enemies of Jehovah 
himself. 2 

4. God, the Strong One, the Mighty One, the Most 
High, the Lord. — Having spoken of the above names, 
which the Israelites gave only to their God, we come 
to a series of names of a more general character, and, 
for that reason, less characteristic than the preceding. 

The most general and indefinite name, and one that 
the Israelites gave to Jehovah in all periods, is Elohim. 
Document C, and also one of the sources of document 
A, designate God only by this name in narrating events 
prior to the call of Moses. Now it is found in no other 
Semitic language; hence it must be supposed that it 
is of Hebrew origin. Unfortunately scholars are not 
agreed respecting its etymology. According to that 

1 v. 14. 

2 Deut. xxxii.35, 41-43 ; Isa. i. 24 ; xxxv. 4 ; xlvii. 3 ; lix. 17 f. ; lxi. 
2 ; lxiii. 4 ; Jer. v. 20 ; xlvi. 10 ; 1. 16, 2H ; li. 6, 11, 36 ; Ps. xciv. 1. 



112 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

suggested by Gesenius in his dictionary, it is from a 
root that would make it synonymous with religious 
fear, and this interpretation agrees very well with the 
old passages, Gen. xxxi. 42, 53. 1 It has, in fact, an 
indefinite sense, and is equivalent to the Latin numen 
and the English divinity. 2 There is a similarly indefi- 
nite and elastic sense in which it may also be applied 
to man. Thus it is said of Moses that he will be 
Elohim to Aaron and Pharaoh. 3 It is probably also 
men clothed with judicial or some other authority to 
whom this name is found applied in the following pas- 
sages: Ex. xxi. 6; xxii. 8 f., 28; Jud. v. 8; 1 Sam. ii. 
25; Ps. lxxxii. 6. 4 The king of Israel is once called 
Elohim ; 5 Samuel is also designated by this word when 
he appears after death. 6 It is likewise said that the 
house of David will be like Elohim. 1 This name, then, 
denotes a power or a being of a superior nature. 8 It is 
applied to heathen divinities, as well as to the God 
of Israel, and denotes no peculiar quality inhering in 
this last. 

Since Elohim is a plural, it has been claimed that 
there is in it a relic and a proof of the polytheism of 
the early Hebrews. This thesis has found numerous 
opponents. Baudissin, however, defends it, 9 and we 

1 Comp. de Wette, Archeologie, § 97 ; Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, 
2 eel. I. pp. 70 f., 79 ; [Kuenen, Belie/ion of Israel. I. p. 41]. 

2 Oehler, § 36 ; Hitzig, Bill. Theol., pp. 3(3 f. 

3 Ex. iv. 16 ; vii. 1. 

4 Schultz, II. p. 12G ; Dillmann on Ex. xxi. 6 ; Bertheau on Jud. 
v. 8. 5 Ps. xlv. f. ; see Delitzsch, ?'./. 

e 1 Sam. xxviii. 13. 7 Zech. xii. 8. 

8 Comp. Reuss, Geschichte, § 69. 

9 Studien, I. p. 55 ; [Kuenen, Beligion of Israel, I. p. 224]. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 113 

think that he is right in so doing. In fact, the Bible 
furnishes so many proofs of the polytheism of the early 
Hebrews that this statement ought not to be seriously 
disputed. In the Old Testament, it is true, this name 
is always construed as a singular when it is applied to 
the God of Israel; but this proves simply that at the 
date of the earliest biblical documents _ faithful Israel- 
ites were already imbued with the principle that their 
people should have but one God. 

The names of God that remain to be examined pre- 
sent a more precise idea of divinity than that of which 
we have just spoken. There is first El, which means 
strong. This is perhaps the oldest name of God among 
the Hebrews. 1 It is found in very old portions of doc- 
ument A. 2 The passages cited prove that this name 
was applied to foreign divinities as well as to the God 
of Israel. 3 

It is one of the old fragments already cited in which 
we find the divine name Shadday,^ which means mighty. 
Of this and the preceding was formed a composite 
name, 5 El-Shadday, which is generally translated al- 
mighty. It is rather an emphatic expression for the idea 
of power. 

Another epithet was very anciently combined with 
El, viz. Elyon, moat-high ; hence the composite name, 
E(-Elyon. 6 Document A calls God "Most-High, lord," 
" possessor, " or, according to some translators, "creator, 
of heaven and earth." 7 But this epithet must anciently 

i Oehler, §36; Schultz, II. pp. 128 f. 

2 Gen. xlix. 2") ; Ex. xv. 2, 11 ; xxxiv. 1 \. 

3 Sec especially Gen. sxxiii. 20. •' Gen. xlix. 25. B Gen. xliii. 14. 
» Gen. xiv. 18-20, 22; Num. xxiv. L6 ; Deut. xxxii. 8. 

7 Gen. xiv. 10, 22. 



114 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

have served as a reminder that the God of Israel was 
more exalted than all the other Elim or Elohim, 1 while 
the epithet Shadday asserted that he was really a might}* 
God, and not one of the powerless gods that the other 
nations worshipped. 

God was also early called Haadhon, the Lord, 2 or 
Adhonay, my Lord. 3 This name expresses, in a greater 
degree than those preceding, the feeling of dependence 
in man over against God. 4 It implies the idea that 
man is the servant of God, that he owes him obedience ; 
that he belongs to him; 5 while the names preceding 
imply rather the idea of the power and authority that 
God possesses over all things. 

II. Attributes of God. 

Since in Israel the names of God were not arbitrary 
designations, but denoted perfections that were attrib- 
uted to the Deity, we have not been able to speak of 
them without at the same time mentioning a number of 
attributes of God. We must now dwell on those to 
which hitherto no reference has been made, or of which 
there remains something to be said. 

We have seen that among the attributes of God, those 
that had most importance for the Israelites were the 
moral attributes. It will, therefore, be best to begin 
with them, and speak of the metaphysical attributes 
afterwards. 

1. Moral Attributes. — We know that the attribute 
par excellence of Jehovah, denoted moreover by his very 

i Schultz, II. pp. 129 f. 2 Ex. xxiii. 17 ; xxxiv. 23. 

3 Gen. xv. 2, 8 ; xviii. 3, 27, 30. 4 See especially Gen. xviii. 27. 

5 Havernick, Theologie, pp. 47 f. ; Oehler, § 42 ; Schultz, II. p. 129. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 115 

name, is his immutability, his unshaken .faithfulness. 
Another attribute that is inseparable from the faithful- 
ness of Jehovah is his truthfulness. His faithfulness 
being chiefly manifested in the fulfilment of his prom- 
ises, the maintenance of the covenant made with Israel, 
it can, from a slightly different point of vieAV, be said 
that to be faithful, for him, is to be truthful in his words, 
in his promises. Thus the veracity and the faithfulness 
of God are in a sense identical. It is even true ety- 
mologically, since the same Hebrew terms, as applied 
to God, are, in the versions, sometimes rendered faith- 
fulness, and sometimes truthfulness or truth. 

The passage already cited, Num. xxv. 19, places 
clearly before us the intimate relation that exists be- 
tween the truthfulness of God and his unchangeable- 
ness or his faithfulness. 1 Another passage, 2 Sam. vii. 
27-29, shows that it is the promises of God in which 
his word is chiefly trusted as a word of truth. Ps. 
lxxxix. only develops the thought expressed in the 
preceding passage with reference to the covenant of 
Jehovah with David. 2 Thus the faithfulness or truth- 
fulness of God is there repeatedly extolled. 3 

The justice of Jehovah, to which there is so frequent 
reference in the Old Testament, is also found in the 
closest relation with his faithfulness. The term justice 
in the Hebrew language is synonymous with rectitude. 4 
We read, Deut. xxxii. 4, that Jehovah is a faithful 
God and without iniquity, that he is just and right. 

i Comp. 1 Sam. xv. 20. 2 w. 3 f., 10 ff., 20 ff., 34 IT., 39. 

3 vv. 1 f., 5, 8, 14, 24, 28, 33-35, .'57, 40. 

*Oehler, § 47 ; Diestel. Jahrbiicher far deutsche Theol, L860, 
p. 174. 



116 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The prophet Hosea makes Jehovah say, not only that he 
will betroth himself with Israel in faithfulness, but also 
that he will betroth himself with them in justice and 
equity, or, as others translate it, in justice and recti- 
tude. 1 In Zechariah Jehovah declares that, under the 
new covenant, he will be the God of his people, with 
truth and rectitude, or, according to other translators, 
with faithfulness and justice. 2 The book of Nehemiah 
relates that the chiefs of the people said to God : " Thou 
hast been just in all that has happened to us, for thou 
hast shown thyself faithful." 3 

Hence we see, on the one hand, the close relation 
that exists between the faithfulness of God and his 
justice, and on the other, that which exists between the 
idea of divine justice and that of the covenant made 
with Israel. In fact, in the making of the covenant, 
the divine justice played the same part as the divine 
truthfulness and faithfulness. It was a guaranty to 
Israel that Jehovah was acting toward them in upright- 
ness, that his words and his deeds merited entire confi- 
dence, that there was not mingled with them the least 
deceit. 

Though the divine justice plays an important part in 
the covenant made with Israel, it plays one more impor- 
tant still in the judgment of God. It is chiefly ascribed 
to God as the supreme judge who renders to each 
according to his works, blessing the just and punishing 
the wicked. 4 Diestel, however, points out that the 

i Hos. ii. 19. 2 Zech. viii. 8. 3 Neh. ix. 33. 

4 Gen. xviii. 25 ; Isa. v. 16 ; lviii. 2 ; Zeph. iii. 5 ; Jer. xi. 20 
Lam. i. 18 ; Job xxxiv. 10-12 ; Ezr. ix. 15 ; Neh. ix. 33 ; Dan. ix. 14 
Ps. vii. 8-17 ; ix. 4 ft, 7 f£., 16 ff. ; xi. 4-7 ; xviii. 20-30; 1. 6 ; xcvi. 13 
cxix. 75, 137 ; cxxix. 4. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 117 

matter must not be understood as if God were judge by 
virtue of his justice, this being the source of the judg- 
ment that he exercises ; but that he is the judge of the 
world and of his people, inasmuch as he is the almighty 
governor, the supreme ruler; that the divine justice, 
being associated with the judgment of God, indicates 
what is the character of this judgment, i.e. that God 
exercises judgment according to the rules of equity. 1 
He further calls attention to the fact that misfor- 
tune is never caused by the justice of God, and that 
in the narratives antedating the Exile there is no 
relation, much less identity, between the wrath of God 
and his justice; 2 that this identification does not take 
place until after the Exile, as is proven especially by 
2 Chron. xii. 5-7. 3 Those who suffer through the injus- 
tice of men can, on the contrary, have recourse to God 
for justice, succor, deliverance. The justice of God, 
far from being like his wrath contrasted with his love, 
is often associated or identified with it, and it is re- 
garded as the source of the divine blessings. 4 Thus 
several passages, one of which is very old, speak of the 
sidheqoth, justices of Jehovah; that is, the deeds of jus- 
tice or benefits of Jehovah. 5 

The goodness or the grace of Jehovah, chesedh, men- 
tioned as early as Ex. xv. 13, is frequently placed in 

i Jahrbiicher, as above, pp. 170 f. ; [Schultz, II. p. 153]. 

2 p. 186 ; [Schultz, II. p. 170]. 

8 pp.- 192 f. ; [Schultz, II. pp. 170 f.]. 

4 Mia vii. ; Isa. xxx. 18 ; xii. 10 ; xlii. 0, 21 ; xlv. 13, 21 ; xlvi. 13 ; 
li. 5 f., 8; lvi. 1 ; lxi. H; Mai. iv. 2; I's. xxxi. 1 ; xxxiii. 5; xxxv. 
23 ff. ; xxxvi. 0, 10 ; xlviii. !» ff. ; li. 15 ; lxv. 5 ; lxxi. ; etc. 

6 Jud. v. 11; 1 Sam. xii. 7; Mia vi. 5; comp. Isa. xlv. 24; 
Ps. lxix. 27 ; ciii. 0. 



118 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

close relation with the preceding attributes, and, in 
some early passages, with the name Jehovah. Here we 
must again quote Ex. xxxiv. 5 f . : " Jehovah, Jehovah, 
merciful and compassionate God, slow to anger, rich in 
grace and faithfulness." In another passage of docu- 
ment A, Ex. xxxiii. 19, we find a similar periphrase 
of this name of God ; Jehovah there says to Moses : " I 
will cause all my goodness to pass before thee and pro- 
claim before thee the name of Jehovah : I show grace to 
whom I show grace and mercy to whom I show mercy." 
The intimate relation that exists between the faithful- 
ness and the justice of God, on the one hand, and his 
grace, on the other, appears especially in another passage 
already cited, Hos. ii. 19, where Jehovah declares that 
he will betroth himself to Israel, not only in justice and 
faithfulness, but also in grace and mercy. If the faith- 
fulness of Jehovah, by which the covenant made with 
David is guaranteed, is highly extolled in Ps. lxxxix., 
it is the same with his goodness. 1 

The preceding discussion shows that the grace of 
Jehovah plays some part in the covenant made with 
Israel. It remains to be seen just what this part is. 
If God has chosen Israel for his people, it is a simple 
favor, an act of pure grace, as we have already seen. 
Thus we read, Deut. vii. 9, that Jehovah is a faithful 
God, who keeps his covenant and his grace. The cov- 
enant and the grace of God are here represented as one 
and the same thing. A similar statement will be found 
put into the mouth of God with reference to the cove- 
nant made with David: "I will keep my grace for him 
forever, and my covenant with him shall be faithful." 2 
i w. 1 f., 14, 28, 33, 49. 2 Ps. lxxxix. 28. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 119 

If God's covenant was established out of sheer grace, it 
is also maintained by grace ; for Israel, by reason of 
their numerous and repeated unfaithfulnesses, no longer 
deserve that this covenant be maintained. This ex- 
plains why Deut. iv. 31 says that Jehovah will not for- 
get the covenant confirmed by an oath to the fathers, 
because he is merciful. 

The love of God, in its various forms, especially as 
grace, mercy, and compassion, finds mention in a large 
number of passages in document A, besides Ex. xxxiii. 
19 and xxxiv. 5 f. just quoted. 1 It should be observed 
that even here the love of God is regarded as much sur- 
passing his jealousy and his anger: though God pun- 
ishes the wicked to the fourth generation, he shows 
mercy to the thousandth, to those who love him and 
keep his commandments. 2 

In the early documents there is almost exclusive 
reference to the love of God for Israel, manifesting 
itself in blessings and deliverances of every kind granted 
this people. In the more recent documents, written at 
a time when the religious horizon of Israel had been 
broadened, when catholic ideas and feelings had more 
and more weakened the early particularism, there is 
more frequent reference to the love of God for all peo- 
ples and even for all creatures. What a difference, for 
example, between the book of Jonah, which promises 
forgiveness to a heathen nation and an enemy of Israel, 
and the numerous narratives of the old documents, in 
which Jehovah commands the destruction of idolatrous 

1 Gen. xxiv. 12, 27; xxxii. 10; Ex. iii. 7 ft'. ; xxii. 27 ; Num. xiv. 
18-20; Deut. xxxii. 6 If. ; xxxiii. 3; COmp. l } . Sam. xxiv. 14. 

2 Ex. xx. [) f. ; xxxiv. f. 



120 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

peoples without pity or mercy! Great progress was, 
with time, made on this subject in the religious concep- 
tions of Israel. It is especially the psalms in which 
there is reference to the love of God that extends not 
only to Israel or the faithful, but to all creatures. They 
say in so many words that the earth is full of the good- 
ness of God, 1 and that his mercy endures forever. 2 

2. Metaphysical Attributes. — In giving to this rubric 
the above title we do not wish to be understood as 
assuming, contrary to our previous assertions, that 
metaphysics was cultivated in Israel. In distinguish- 
ing the metaphysical from the moral attributes of God, 
we simply conform to modern parlance, make a distinc- 
tion unknown to the Old Testament. We shall see, 
in fact, that the Israelites never dwelt on these attri- 
butes with a speculative or metaphysical, but only with 
a religious and practical, interest. Though, since the- 
ologians, Jewish and Christian, have believed that bib- 
lical truth could best be expressed by a transcendental 
dogmatics, a speculative metaphysics, this is utterly 
foreign to the essentially religious and practical spirit 
of Israelitish prophetism, the principles of which we 
are now discussing. 

The metaphysical attribute that takes precedence of 
all the others, and is most frequently mentioned in the 
Old Testament, is the power of God. It is denoted by 
the names El and Shadday, above noticed, which we 
find in the oldest documents. Of old the Israelites 
regarded their God as a strong and powerful God, able 
to protect his people, and also, in case of disobedience, 
to punish them. The old songs, Jud. v., Ex. xv., 

1 Ps. xxxiii. 5 ; civ. 24 ; cxix. 64. 2 Ps. cxxxvi. and elsewhere. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 121 

Deut. xxxii., 1 Sam. ii., celebrate chiefly the power of 
Jehovah as it is manifested in favor of Israel. The 
grand deeds, the miracles, by which God delivered the 
children of Israel f.om bondage in Egypt, 1 reveal his 
power. 2 It appears also in the narratives of creation, 3 
the deluge, 4 the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, 5 
the victories won over the Canaanitish peoples, 6 and in 
all the narratives of this kind. Except in Gen. xviii. 
14, however, one hardly finds in the oldest documents 
an assertion of the absolute power or the omnipotence 
of God. On the other hand, nothing indicates that this 
power was limited as were the other attributes of God. 
This attribute, which particularly concerns men, in 
their state of dependence, the Israelites took peculiar 
delight in asserting and developing from ancient times. 

In our period we find on every page of the biblical 
books the assertion that Jehovah has absolute power 
over the world, that he can do what he will. The pas- 
sages of this sort are so numerous and so familiar that 
it is superfluous to cite any of them. 

A God so powerful as that of Israel, the author of all 
the wonders of creation and history that are described 
in the Old Testament, would naturally appear as a real 
and living God. Passages both earlier and later, in 
fact, represent him as such, especially in formulae 7 for 
oaths. 

One of the passages that we have just cited says not 

i Ex. vii. ff. 2 Ex. ix. 10 ; iii. 10 f. 3 Gen. i. f. 

4 Gen. vi. ff. s Gen. xix. e j ()S i le j # ff. 

< (Jen. xvi. l.°> f. ; Num. xiv. 21, 28 ; Josh. iii. 10; 1 Sam. xiv. ^-K 
45; xvii. 20, 36; etc.; IIos. i. 10; iv. 15; Deut. xxxii. 40; v. 20; 
Jer. iv. 2 ; v. 2 ; x. 10 ; etc. 



122 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

only that God is living, but that he forever is. 1 The 
earliest passages that assert the eternity of God are Ex. 
xv. 18, which declares that Jehovah will reign forever, 
and Gen. xxi. 33, in which Jehovah is called everlast- 
ing God. It should, however, be observed that the 
word okm, which in these passages and elsewhere is 
rendered everlasting, has a more restricted significance 
than the English word. It denotes simply an unlimited 
or very long time. In our period, then, for want of a 
better term, the word olam is still sometimes used to 
denote the eternity of God ; 2 we notice serious efforts to 
express this idea more adequately. Thus they say that 
Qod is he who existed before, and will exist after, all 
else, that he is the first and the last, that his years have 
no end, and so forth. 3 

The omnipotence of God implies his omnipresence. 
We have already noticed the limitations that some nar- 
ratives put upon this attribute of God. It is, however, 
proper to say here that, even in document A, there are 
narratives that presuppose the divine omnipresence, if 
not in the strict, dogmatic sense, at least in the relig- 
ious signification of the word ; viz. that wherever there 
are believing souls, they are assured of the presence of 
God. Thus Eliezer can address his prayer to the God 
of Abraham in Mesopotamia. 4 Jacob, when he sets out 
for that country, receives the express assurance that 
God will be with him and keep him wherever he goes. 5 
And this promise is realized in the Subsequent life of 

1 Deut. xxxii. 40. 

2 Jer. x. 10 ; Isa. xl. 28 ; Lam. v. 19 ; Ps. xciii. 2. 

3 Job xxxvi. 26 ; Isa. xli. 4 ; xliii. 10 ; xliv. 6 ; xlviii. 12 ; Ps. lv. 10 ; 
xc. 1-4 ; cii. 24, 27 ; comp. Dan. vii. 13, 22. 4 Gen. xxiv. 12 ff. 

5 Gen. xxviii. 15. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 9. NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES. 123 

the patriarch. 1 Since document A teaches that God 
created all things, 2 the idea that he presides over every- 
thing must be of early date. In any case, beginning 
with our period, the omnipotence of God was actually 
asserted, though not by any means in philosophical 
language. 3 We should not, then, take literally all the 
passages that say that God dwells in heaven, or those 
that give us to understand that he dwells in the sanc- 
tuary, at Jerusalem, on the holy mountain. Though 
the people may have long cherished gross ideas on this 
subject, the prophets rose above these imperfect con- 
ceptions. Among them the idea of the presence of God 
in the sanctuary harmonized with that of his omnipres- 
ence, as the idea that God is the ruler of all nations 
did with that of Israel's peculiar relation to him. From 
their point of view it was said both that God dwelt in 
heaven and that the highest heavens could not contain 
him, 4 that he dwelt in Zion and in heaven. 5 

With the omnipresence of God is very naturally con- 
nected his omniscience. According to document A, 
God knew the fall of Adam and Eve, 6 the crime of 
Cain, 7 the corruption of the human race that caused the 
deluge, 8 the depravity of the inhabitants of Sodom and 
Gomorrah, 9 the oppression of the children of Israel, 10 
etc. This document everywhere take* for granted that 
prayers when addressed to God can be heard ; that 
therefore God hears. It says also that God knows the 

1 Gen. xxxi. 49-54 ; xxxii. 1 f., 9 ff. ; xxxiii. 20; xlvi. 4. 

2 Gen. ii. 4 ff. 

3 Amos ix. 2-1 ; Drill. iv\ 39 ; Hub. iii. 3 ; Jer. xxiii. 2:5 f. ; Isa. lxvi. 
1; 1 Kings viii. 27; I's. cxxxix. 7-10; comp. Ob. 4. 

4 1 Kings viii. 27 if. fi I's. xiv. 2, 7 ; xx. 2, 0. 

6 Gen. iii. ' Gen. iv. s (Jen. vi. if. 9 Gen. xviii. f. 

w Ex. iii. 



124 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

thoughts of men. 1 It attributes to him, finally, knowl- 
edge of the future. 2 This we find especially in the 
documents of our period : 3 witness the numerous pre- 
dictions made by the prophets in the name of God, and 
the frequent assertion that God knows all things, even 
the most secret. 4 

An attribute of God that is not mentioned before this 
period, but recurs often enough hereafter, along with 
the power of God as it appears in nature, is his ivisdom. 5 
The reason why the idea of this attribute was attained 
so late is easy enough to understand. It was necessary 
"that observation and reflection should first give to man 
a comparatively exact knowledge of nature before he 
could grasp the order, the harmony, that reign in it, and 
comprehend that it all has one end, the highest good." 6 



§ 10. CREATION. 

We have seen that originally the Israelites saw in 
Jehovah little more than their king and their protector; 
that they only gradually rose to the idea that their God 
was the only true God, creator of heaven and earth. 

Even document A contains a narrative of creation. 7 

1 Gen. vi. 5 ; comp. vii. 1 ; 1 Sam. ii. 3 ; xvi. 7 ; 2 Sam. vii. 20. 

2 Gen. xi. 3 ; xv. 13 ft ; xviii. 14, 18 ; xxviii. 14 ; Ex. iv. 14 ; xi. 
1 ff. ; etc. 3 Isa. xlii. 9 ; xliii. 9-12 ; xlvi. 10 ; xlviii. 4 f. 

4 Amos iv. 13 ; v. 12 ; Hos. v. 3 ; Zech. ix. 1 ; Job xi. 7-9, 11 ; xxvi. 
5 f . ; xxxiv. 21 f . ; Jer. i. 5 ; xi. 20 ; xii. 3 ; xv. 15 ; etc. ; Ezek. xi. 5 ; 
Isa. xxxvii. 28 ; 1 Kings viii. 39 ; Pro v. v. 21 ; xv. 3, 11 ; etc. 

5 Jer. x. 12 ; li. 15 f. ; Isa. xxxi. 2 ; xl. 12-14 ; Job ix. 4-10 ; xii. 
13, 10 ; xxviii. 12-27 ; xxxviii. -xii. ; Prov. iii. 19 f. ; viii. 22 ff. ; Ps. 
xix. ; civ. 24; Gen. i. 31. 

Haag, Theol. BibL, p. 312. 7 Gen. ii. 4 b-25. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 10. CREATION. 125 

This narrative declares that Jehovah God made the 
earth and the heavens. 1 On the whole it presents 
naively, bnt not unattractively, the early conceptions 
of Israel on this subject. It tells us that, before the 
creation of man, there were no plants on the earth, be- 
cause God had not yet caused it to rain ; 2 that God 
formed man of the dust of the earth and breathed into 
his nostrils to make him a living being; 3 that from 
the earth he also took the animals. 4 The formation of 
woman from a rib of man is clearly the most original 
feature of this whole fragment. 5 

Except in this narrative, and a few other passages, 6 
there is little reference to creation and God the Creator 
in early Hebrew literature. It is necessary to come 
down as far as the time of the Exile to find passages of 
any number bearing on this subject. 7 The book of Job 
several times refers to it. 8 It is also mentioned in the 
famous passage, Pro v. viii. 22 h\, and especially in a 
number of psalms. 9 But the most remarkable passage 
relating to it is the narrative of creation in document C. 10 

Upon comparing this latter narrative with that of 
document A, it Avill easily be perceived that it dates 
from a time when religious thought was more developed. 
God does not here act after the manner of men, fash- 
ioning the clay of the earth into man and animals, get- 
ting woman from a rib of man, and watering the earth 

1 v. 4. 2 v. 5. * v. 7. 4 Vi 19, 5 Wi 21 f. 

6 Gen. xiv. 10, 22 ; Ex. iv. 11 ; /vinos iv. 13 ; v. 8 ; Isa. xxix. Hi. 

7 Jer. x. 12 f., 16 ; xxvii. 5; xxxi. :)'> ; xxxii. 17 ; li. 15, 10 ; Zech. 
xii. 1 ; Isa. xxxvii. 16; xl. 28; xlii. 5; xliv. 24; xlv. 9, 12, 18; xlviii. 
18; li. 13; lxvi. 2; Jon. i. 9. 

8 x. 8 f. ; xxvi. 7 if. ; xxviii. 26 E. ; xxxvi. '.) ; xxxviii. 1 IT. 

9 viii. ; xix. 1 ff. ; xxiv. 1 f. ; xxxiii. 6-9 ; etc. 10 Gen. i. 



126 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

with rain to make the plants grow. He proceeds as a 
real creator: "God said: Let the light he! And light 
was." This is also the case with the other acts of crea- 
tion. 1 The simple creative word of God instantly calls 
everything into existence. The sublime beauty of this 
conception has always been admired. In addition to 
the word of God it is the spirit of God that contributes 
to the realization of the work of creation. 2 Elsewhere 
the spirit, 3 the word, 4 and the wisdom 5 of God are 
mentioned as the agents of creation. 

The question whether the world was produced from 
nothing or whether matter existed from all eternity, is 
not touched, much less solved, in the canonical books 
of the Old Testament. Creation ex nihilo is first taught, 
2 Mace. vii. 28, and it is not absolutely certain that 
it is the thought of that passage. 6 Wisdom says ex- 
pressly that God made the world of formless matter, 7 
probably basing this statement upon Gen. i. 1. The 
creation of matter by the almighty word of God, 
however, agrees better with the character of Gen. i. than 
the opposite conception. 8 If the question concerning 
creation ex nihilo had been put, or had presented itself, 
to the author of document C, he would certainly have 
answered it in the affirmative, and what is true of him 
is true also of the prophets and the other sacred writers. 
There was, from this time onward, too strong a persua- 

i w. 3, G, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26. 2 v. 2. 

3 Job xxxiii. 4 ; xxxiv. 14 f. ; Ps. xxxiii. G ; civ. 29 f. ; comp. 
Gen. ii. 7. 

4 Ps. xxxiii. 6, 9 ; cvii. 20 ; cxlvii. 15, 18 ; cxlviii. 5. 
& Job xxviii. 23 ff. ; Prov. viii. 22 ff. 

6 Grimm, i.l. 7 xi. 18. 

8 Schultz, II. pp. 184 ff. ; comp. Reuss, GeschicJUe, p. 320. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 10. CREATION. 127 

sion of the omnipotence of God to admit of the least 
limitation to it. 1 Even document A declares that noth- 
ing is impossible with God. 2 If the question under 
discussion was not answered in the way indicated, it is 
because it was not proposed. The prophets generally 
said little about creation. It is the present and the 
future that engage their attention, not the past, and 
what interests them almost exclusively in the past is 
the history of their people. As for the sages in Israel, 
they gave more attention to practical life than to purely 
speculative problems. 

In our day the attempts have often been made to 
reconcile the first biblical account of creation with the 
dicta of science. As for us, we feel ourselves obliged 
to oppose such attempts. All who make them are 
forced to wrest the meaning of the Scriptures or the 
results of science. Thus they are obliged to transform 
the six days of which the biblical narrative speaks into 
as many periods, comprising innumerable 3 T ears. Now 
one must either imperfectly understand the meaning of 
the passage or have a defective exegetical conscience 
to venture to defend such an interpretation. Every 
impartial exegete admits that reference is here made 
merely to six ordinary days followed by a real Israelit- 
ish Sabbath. The end of the narrative 3 shows clearly 
that, in this document, the institution of the week 
and the Sabbath is connected with the work of creation. 
It appears also from another passage of the same docu- 
ment. 4 The addition to the decalogue, Ex. xx. 11, — 

1 Comp. Bruch, Weisheitslehre der Hebraer, p. 77 ; [Scluillz, II. p. 
186 f.]. 

2 Gen. xviii. 14. ;! (Jen. ii. 2 I. 4 Ex. \\.\i. 17. 



128 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

which forms no part of the original text, as is proven 
by the parallel text, Deut. v., — is also evidently taken 
from this document. In these passages, copied from 
Gen. i., there is reference only to six ordinary week- 
days, hence it may be concluded that in this last there 
is no reference to anything else. Or rather, all these 
passages, Gen. i. included, were suggested by the Isra- 
elitish week, which existed from the remotest times : a 
clear proof that, in this narrative, there is reference 
to six real days. Moreover, the narrative itself suffi- 
ciently sustains this interpretation by the expression, 
six times repeated: "And there was evening, and there 
was morning." 1 We must say that the idea of seeing 
anything but six ordinary days in it would never have 
occurred to any one, if modern science had not demon- 
strated that the work of creation required for its accom- 
plishment a series of very long periods. There are, 
moreover, other variations between the biblical account 
and science. 2 

What should one do in such a state of things ? We 
must begin by respecting the exact sense of the biblical 
text, on the one hand, and the results of science on the 
other, and admit that the Bible is not and does not 
pretend to be either a scientific manual or a system of 
infallible dogmas. Its value is neither theological nor 
scientific, but religious. This is true also of the first 
chapter of Genesis. An account that says that God 
worked six days at the task of creation and rested the 
seventh like a laborer, is far from perfect from the theo- 
logical as well as for the scientific point of view. But 

1 Gen. i. 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 26. 

2 Dillmann, Genesis, pp. 10 ff. ; [Dods, Book of Genesis, pp. 3 f.]. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 11. PROVIDENCE. 129 

this simple and naive account has a real religious value, 
because it represents to us the world as the work of an 
almighty God, who has only to speak to bring every- 
thing into existence. The religious soul will always 
require such a God; it will always thirst for a living 
God. 1 It will, therefore, find ample satisfaction in this 
account despite its dogmatic and scientific imperfec- 
tions, which shock only those who cherish a false idea 
of the Bible. 

Most civilized peoples of antiquity have, among their 
traditions, accounts of creation, and some of these ac- 
counts are very analogous to those of the Bible. 2 They 
all seem to rest on a common tradition. The biblical 
accounts, however, excel the others, as the religion of 
Israel excels the other religions of antiquity. We 
therefore fully agree with the conclusion with which 
Riehm closes his article on creation: "Instead of mak- 
ing useless and fruitless efforts to reconcile the account 
of creation with the results of science, it would be much 
better to compare carefully all the cosmogonies of 
antiquity for the sake of placing in a clear light the 
religious value of the biblical account of creation.'' 3 

§ 11. PROVIDENCE. 

It is only necessary to glance through the Old 
Testament to be impressed that the dominant idea, re- 
curring on every page, is that Jehovah directs every- 

1 Ps. xlii. 2 ; lxxxiv. 2. 

2 See Dillmann, Genesis, pp. 10 f. ; [Lenormant, Beginnings of 
History, pp. 47 ff.]. 

8 Handworterbuch, p. L416; [Dods, Genesis, pp. 1 f.]. 



130 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

thing in the world and more particularly in the history 
of his people. He appears to the first men and to the 
patriarchs to regulate all that concerns them. He in- 
terferes in history, to save his people from Egyptian 
slavery, to lead them across the desert, to bring them 
into the land of Canaan, to protect them against their 
enemies, to reclaim them from their wanderings, to 
punish them for their unfaithfulness. He places over 
them Moses, to whom he speaks continually, revealing 
to him, even to the least details, the laws, civil and re- 
ligious, that Israel are to obey. Joshua, who succeeds 
Moses by the express command of God, is also divinely 
directed in all his undertakings. After Joshua there 
are judges, raised up and directed by the spirit of God, 
who govern the various tribes of Israel. Then the 
kings or anointed ones of Jehovah are placed over the 
whole people, also the prophets, those servants of God 
par excellence, who always speak and act under the influ- 
ence of divine inspiration. In a word, from the remot- 
est antiquity the people Israel felt themselves con- 
stantly governed and directed in all things by Jehovah 
himself or by powers established and inspired by him. 
From this point of view providence becomes identical 
with the theocratic government of Israel. For a long 
time, doubtless, the Israelites had no other conception 
of divine providence. 

Afterwards, however, they rose to the idea that Jeho- 
vah directs, as sovereign lord, all the peoples of the 
earth. 1 Nevertheless, Israel always remained the centre 
of the world's history, and the other peoples were, in 

1 Amos i. 2, 1 ff. ; ix. 7 ; Zech. ix. 1 ff. ; Mic. iv. 11 ff. ; Isa. xv. ff. ; 
Jer. xlvi. ff. ; Ezek. xxv. ff. ; 2 Kings v. 1 ; Deut. ii. 22. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 11. PROVIDENCE. 131 

reality, only instruments employed by Jehovah to exe- 
cute his purposes toward his chosen people. The nar- 
row particularism, inherent in the whole old covenant, 
was only partially outgrown by the prophets ; none of 
them rose to strict universalism, as more than one con- 
sideration will show. 

What idea was current in Israel of the relation ex- 
isting between divine providence and human freedom? 
It is certain that the Old Testament allows great play 
to the freedom of man. The legal regime leaves to each 
the choice between life and death, between blessing and 
cursing. What Deut. xxx. 15-20 says on this subject 
is but an admirable resume of the whole Old Testament. 
The efficacy of prayer is also everywhere recognized; 
that is to say, it is admitted that the will of man is taken 
into consideration by God, that it influences the divine 
will. 1 

Though, on the one hand, the Old Testament takes 
for granted or asserts the reality of human freedom, on 
the other, it teaches just as categorically the absolute 
dependence of man with respect to God. According 
to this doctrine everything in the history of peoples 
and individuals depends upon God and his providential 
direction; there is no place for chance. 2 Nothing hap- 
pens except the Lord decrees it. 3 Even when the lot is 
cast, the decision comes from God. 4 Human actions are 
no exception to the general rule. They also are abso- 
lutely dependent upon God. Man plans his path, but 

1 See especially Gen. xviii. 23 IT. ; Kx. xxxii. 10—14 ; Num. xiv. 12- 
20 ; Deut. ix. 25 If. ; 2 Kings xx. 1-11. 

2 Ex. xxi. 18. 8 Lam. iii. 27. 
4 Prov. xvi. .')•'{. 



132 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

it is God who directs bis course. 1 Man is really in the 
hands of God as the clay is in the hands of the potter. 2 
Divine providence, in thus directing the events of 
history, uses all human actions for the realization of its 
purposes. This appears very clearly in the history of 
the patriarchs, especially in that of Jacob, and most 
clearly in that of Joseph. It is expressly said that the 
evil that his brothers sought to do to Joseph was provi- 
dential, and that God would and could transform it into 
good. 3 The same point of view is maintained in the 
later history. The cruel edict of Pharaoh against the 
Hebrew children, the exposure of Moses on the Nile, 
his education at the Egyptian court, the murder that 
he commits, his flight and his sojourn in the desert, — 
everything helps to prepare him for his lofty mission as 
deliverer of the children of Israel. All the persecu- 
tions directed against David only serve to bring him 
more surely to the throne. Balaam is forced to bless 
Israel against his will. Jonah seeks in vain to avoid 
the mission that God has entrusted to him. The 
mighty enemies of Israel, in spite of their ambition and 
their proud designs, are only instruments in the hands 
of God in fulfilling his will and his decrees, in punish- 
ing or delivering his people. 4 God, indeed, is able to 
do anything, and there are no obstacles to his plans. 5 

1 Prov. xvi. 1, 9 ; xix. 21 ; xx. 24 ; xxi. 1 ; Jer. x. 23 ; Isa. 
xxvi. 12. 

2 Isa. xxix. 16 ; xlv. 9 f. ; lxiv. 8 ; Jer. xviii. 6. 

3 Gen. xlv. 5, 7 f. ; 1. 20. 

4 Ex. ix. 15 f. ; xi. 9 ; Isa. x. 5 ff. ; xiv. 12 ff. ; xli. 2 ff., 25 ff. ; 
xlv. 1 ff. ; Jer. 1. 2 ff., 8 ff., 41 ff. ; li. 11 ff., 20 ff., 27 ff. ; Hab. i. 
5 ff. ; Zech. xiv. 2. 

5 Job xlii. 2 ; comp. Frov. xxi. 31 ; Ps. cxviii. 22 f. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 11. PROVIDENCE. 133 

Thus he laughs at the powerful of the earth, who dare 
to oppose him, him and his anointed. 1 

It appears from the preceding discussion, that God 
is the author both of the happiness and the unhappiness 
of peoples and individuals. Such is the teaching of the 
whole Old Testament, especially of the historical and 
prophetical books. But what best shows how far the 
Old Testament carries its assertion of the absolute sov- 
ereignty of God, is the fact that it represents God as 
the author of moral evil. It is he, in fact, who hardens 
the hearts of Pharaoh 2 and the Egyptians, 3 of Sihon 4 
and the Canaanites ; 5 it is he who excites discord be-, 
tween Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, 6 who 
impels the sons of Eli to despise the exhortations of 
their father, 7 who sends an evil spirit upon Saul, 8 who 
incites David against the Israelites and leads him to 
take a forbidden census; 9 finally, it is he who causes 
Rehoboam to deny the just demands of the people, 10 who 
deceives the prophets of Israel by a lying spirit, 11 who 
prevents the people from seeing, hearing, understand- 
ing his will, lest they should turn, 12 who is a stumbling- 
block and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 13 who 
puts into the Egyptian chiefs an erring spirit. 14 

The absolute dependence, then, of man as respects 

1 Ps. ii. 1 ff. ; romp, xxxiii. 10. 

2 Ex. iv. 21 ; vii. :) ; ix. 12 ; x. 1, 20, 27 ; xiv. 4, 8. 

3 Ex. xiv. 17. 4 Dent. ii. 30. 6 Josh. xi. 20. « Jud. ix. 23. 
7 1 Sam. ii. 25. K 1 Sain. xvi. 14 f. ; xviii. 10; xix. 0. 

9 2 Sain. xxiv. ; COmp. 1 Sain. xxvi. 10. 
. 10 1 Kings xii. 15. n l Kings xxii. L9-23. 

12 Isa. vi. !'. ; coin)), xxix. 10 12 ; lxiii. 17 j Deut. xxix. 4 ; Job xii. 
16 ; x vii. 4. ' ; Isa. viii. 1 I. 

11 Isa. xix. 13 t. ; comp. Job xii. 24 f. 



134 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

God is asserted in the Old Testament, as well as his 
freedom and responsibility. Let no one try to recon- 
cile these two contradictory assertions. The eminently 
practical character of the religion of Israel made it pos- 
sible to forego a solution, which, for that matter, has 
never yet been discovered, and which evidently tran- 
scends the powers of the human reason. The moral 
consciousness will always assert human freedom, and 
the religious consciousness the absolute sovereignty of 
God. Philosophers and dogmatists may, in turn, deny 
the one or the other ; morality will always protest 
against the denial of our freedom, and piety against 
that of the supreme sovereignty of God, and they will 
thus vindicate the general standpoint of the Old Testa- 
ment, which in the place of two negations presents two 
affirmations. 

As God orders and directs absolutely every event in 
history, in the lives of peoples and individuals, so also 
he governs the world that he has created, and all the 
phenomena that appear in it. Men of primitive times, 
being destitute of all scientific training, knew nothing 
or next to nothing of the laws of nature that regulate 
the course and the maintenance of the world. It is 
late, therefore, before there appear in the Old Testa- 
ment passages in which these laws are mentioned. 1 
We know of only one comparatively early passage that 
speaks of the regular course of the world; 2 and this 
makes it depend directly upon the will of God and not 
upon laws established by him. Even in more recent 

1 Jer. v. 22 ; xxxi. 35 f . ; xxxiii. 20, 25 ; Job xiv. 5 ; xxxviii. 10 ; 
Gen. i. 11, 22, 28 f. ; ix. 1, 8-17 ; Ps. civ. 9 ; cxlviii. 6. 

2 Gen. viii. 22. 



SECOND PERIOD. § 11. PROVIDENCE. 135 

documents the passages that speak of the laws of nature 
are rare. The prevailing tendency of the religion of 
Israel, not only at the time when the laws of nature 
were unknown, but even afterwards, when they were 
to some extent recognized, was to overlook these laws 
and refer everything that happened to the immediate 
action of God. To the Israelite in all ages, the crea- 
ture is absolutely and directly dependent upon the Crea- 
tor. The spirit, the word, and the wisdom of God, that 
called them into existence, can also at any moment 
bring them to naught; God has onty to withdraw his 
breath, and they die ; or emit it, and everything is re- 
newed. 1 Before the breath, the almighty and creative 
spirit of God, all creatures are but flesh, i.e. fragile 
beings. 2 God is the lord of the spirits of all flesh, 
causing life and death. 3 

It is God who produces and regulates all the phenom- 
ena of animate and inanimate nature, who grants or 
denies food to all that lives, who causes plenty or 
scarcity. 4 This side of divine providence is very well 
described in a series of psalms, 5 and after a magnificent 
fashion in the book of Job. 6 The book of Jonah also 
makes prominent this idea, that God regulates everything 

1 Gen. vi. 3 ; Job xxvii. 3 ; xxxiv. 14 f. ; Ps. xxxiii. 9 ; civ. 27-30 ; 
cxlvii. 15-18. 

2 Gen. vi. 3, 13 ; Isa. xxxi. 3 ; xl. 6-8. 

3 Num. xvi. 22 ; xxvii. 16 ; 1 .Sam. ii. 6 ; Isa. xxxviii. 

4 Amos iv. 6 IT. ; v. 8 f. ; viii. 9 ; Bos. ii. 21 ; Zech. x. 1 ; Isa. v. 
0; xix. 5 ff. ; xxx. 20, 23 if. ; NVh. i. 4; Jer. iii. 3; v. 12; x. 13; 
Deut. xi. 13 ff. ; xxviii. 1 ff., 15 IT. ; etc. 

Blxv. 9-13; civ. 1 if., 13 ff., 21, 27 ff. j cxxxvi. 25; cxlv. 15 t. ; 
cxlvii. 9, 15-18. 

6 xxxvi. 27-.'51 ; xxxvii. 2-13 ; x.wviii.-xli. 



136 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

in nature as he pleases. 1 God can make barrenness fruit- 
ful. 2 He covers with the waters of the deluge the face 
of the earth; after the deluge he places the rainbow in 
the clouds ; he causes it to rain brimstone and fire upon 
Sodom and Gomorrah; he sends plagues of every sort 
upon Egypt; he gives manna and quails to the people 
Israel. More than this, God can transform the entire 
universe. 3 He has only to speak to attain his pur- 
poses; for his word does not return to him without 
effect; it executes his will, and fulfils his intentions. 4 

The best proof that God is not bound by the laws of 
nature, but can do whatever he will, is the unlimited 
ability to perform miracles attributed to him. On this 
point the story of Moses, and that of Elijah and Elisha, 
are especially instructive. The Israelites accepted 
without hesitation the most extraordinary miracles. 
They believed that Balaam's ass spoke, 5 that the walls 
of Jericho fell at the noise of the trumpets and the 
shouts of the people Israel, 6 that the sun and the moon 
stood still at the command of Joshua, 7 that the sun even 
retraced its course in answer to the prayer of Isaiah, 8 
that Elisha made a piece of iron that had fallen into the 
water float. 9 They also attributed a degree of miracu- 
lous power to the Egyptian magicians, 10 but a less degree 
than that possessed by Moses. 11 Finally, they thought 
that false prophets possessed the gift of working 
miracles. 12 

1 i. 4 ; ii. 1, 11 ; iv. 6-8. 

2 Gen. xviii. 9 ff. ; xvii. 17 ft ; xxi. 1 f. ; xxv. 21 ; xxx. 2, 8. 

3 Ps. cii. 26. * Isa. Iv. 11. 5 Num. xxii. 28. 6 Josh. vi. 
' Josh. x. 12 f. 8 2 Kings xx. 8-11. 

9 2 Kings vi. 6. 10 Ex. vii. 11 f., 22 ; viii. 3. 

ii Ex. viii. 14 : ix. 11. 12 Deut. xiii. 2 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 137 

On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that the 
Israelites saw miracles in the ordinary course of nature 
and history. The same term that denotes wonders of 
nature also denotes miracles properly so called. 1 

Oehler, therefore, could justly say that, from the 
standpoint of the Old Testament, "miracles do not 
differ qualitatively from the customary operations of 
God in nature and history." 2 The Israelite saw too 
clearly everywhere the direct activity of God to make 
an essential distinction between the wonders of nature 
and miracles in the strict sense of this term. 



§ 12. THE MANIFESTATION OP GOD IN THE WOELD. 

The God of Israel is an absolutely transcendent God. 
The Israelites did not have the idea of the immanence 
of God. Jehovah hovers over the earth ; he is perfectly 
distinct from it, therefore he is essentially holy; holi- 
ness, when applied to God, denotes his exaltation, his 
transcendence. Hence God cannot enter into direct 
relations with the world; he needs mediators. Neither 
is he able to make himself known to men in his glori- 
ous essence and majesty; he can reveal himself to them 
only in part. 

Though the possibility and the reality of a continued 
revelation of God was believed in Israel, they did not 
claim to possess a perfect and adequate knowledge of 
him. Moses himself, though peculiarly blessed in this 
respect, in that God shows himself to him and speaks 

1 Comp. Job v. 9 f. ; Ps. lxxxix. 5 ; cvii. 8 f., 23 f. ; exxxix. 13 f., 
with Ex. iii. 20 ; xv. 11 ; xxxiv. 10 ; Josh. iii. 5 ; Jud. vi. 13. 
8 §64. 



138 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

to him more directly than to any other prophet, 1 is not 
allowed to see God face to face; he can see him only 
from behind ; 2 in fact, none among men can see the face 
of God and live. 3 This view, which dates from the 
first period, is maintained in the periods following. 4 
Man could not, then, fully see, knoAV, comprehend 
God. 5 Even the God revealed remains a God more or 
less hidden. 6 Though the things revealed are for man, 
there are also hidden things that God alone knows. 7 A 
distinction must, then, be made between the unfathoma- 
ble essence of God and what a frail mortal can know 
of him, between God in himself and his appearance in 
the world. 



I. The Glory, the Name, the Face, the Malahh of God. 

1. The Glory of God. — What man may know of 
God is his glory. The glory of God is precisely the 
side of divinity that is accessible to man, that is re- 
vealed to him. It may justly be said that the holiness 
of God is his glory hidden, and the glory of God his 
holiness revealed. 8 It might also be said that the holi- 

1 Nurn. xii. 6-8 ; Ex. xxxiv. 28-35 ; xxxiii. 11 ; xxiv. 2, 12-18 ; xix. 
20 ff. 

2 Ex. xxxiii. 20-33. 

3 Ex. xxxiii. 20 ; xx. 19 ; xix. 21-24 ; iii. 6 ; Jud. vi. 22 f. ; xiii. 22 ; 
1 Sam. vi. 19 f. ; 2 Sam. vi. ff. 

4 Isa. vi. 5 ; Beat. iv. 33 ; v. 23 ff. ; xviii. 1G ; Lev. xvi. 2, 13 ; comp. 
Ex. xxviii. 3-") ; xxx. 21 ; Num. iv. 19 f. 

5 Isa. xl. 28 ; Job xlii. 1 ff. ; xxxviii. f. ; xxxvii. 15 ff. ; xxxvi. 20 ; 
xxvi. 14 ; Prov. xxx. 2-4. 

6 Isa. xlv. 15 ; comp. Prov. xxv. 2. v Deut. xxix. 29. 

8 Baudissin, Studien, II. p. 107. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OP GOD. 139 

ness of God is his inaccessible transcendence, while his 
glory is his visible manifestation in the world. 

It may be supposed that the glory of God appeared 
to the Israelitish imagination as a consuming fire and 
as a dazzling light, and that this more or less material 
conception was originally suggested by the fire and 
the light of the tempest; which is the more probable 
since a cloud is often represented as the vehicle of 
God's glory. Further evidence is found in numerous 
passages taken from documents of all periods. 1 That 
God appeared as a consuming fire is surely the reason 
why it was feared that death would be the penalty of 
approaching him or seeing his face. That he appeared 
as a dazzling light is the reason why no one dared look 
upon his face, 2 and that those who, like Moses, had 
seen but a part of his glory, retained a reflection of it 
that dazzled other mortals. 3 

It is apparent from a large number of the passages 
cited that the glory of God is, as we have already said, 
the side of divinity that appears and manifests itself to 
men. When Moses was invited by Jehovah to ascend to 
him on Mount Sinai, lie there saw the glory of God. 4 
On another occasion Moses entreated Jehovah that he 
might see his glory, and this favor was granted him. 5 
It is said that the Israelites saw the glory of God, and 

1 Ex. iii. 2 ; xiii. 21 f. ; xvi. 10 ; xix. 10 ff. ; xxiv. 15 ff. ; xl. 34 f. 
Lev. ix. 0, 23 f. ; Num. xvi. 12 ; Dent. iv. 12, 15, 24, 33, 30 ; v. 22 ff. 
ix. 3; xviii. 10 ; xxxii. 22 ; xxxiii. 2 ; 1 Kings viii. 10 f. ; 2 Ohron. v 
14; vii. 1-3; Isa. x. 17; xxx. 27, 30, :):) ; xxxiii. 14; lx. 1 f., 10 f. 
Zeph. ii. 2 ; iii. 8; Nan. i. 0; Bab. iii. 3 f. ; Ezek. i. 4, 27 f . ; viii. 1 f. 
x. 4 ; xliii. 2 ; Mai. iii. 2 ; Ps. xviii. 7 IT. ; xxi. ; 1. 3 ; Dan. vii. f. 

2 Ex. xxxiii. 20-23 ; Isa. vi. 2 ; 1 Kings xix. 13. 

3 Ex. xxxiv. 20-35. 4 ^ x# xx ; v . k; f. 6 Ex. xxxiii. 1H-22. 



140 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

that all the earth is, or shall be, rilled with it. 1 All 
manifestations of the divine activity in history and in 
nature, in his judgments and in his benefits, may be 
regarded as manifestations of his glory. 2 

From Ezekiel onward, the glory of God is connected 
with the sanctuary. The prophet, having seen it for 
the first time at Chebar, resplendent as the rainbow, 3 
afterwards saw it on its way to the temple, which was 
filled with a cloud; even the court shone with the glory 
of Jehovah. 4 When he had his vision of the restored 
temple, Ezekiel also saw the glory of the God of Israel 
approach from the east and enter the temple, which was 
filled with it, by the eastern door. 5 At the dedication 
of the temple of Solomon the cloud and the glory of 
God filled the structure. 6 According to document C, 
the tabernacle of the desert was hallowed in the same 
way ; 7 and when Aaron, who had just been consecrated, 
offered the first sacrifices, the glory of God appeared to 
all the people ; a fire burst from the presence of Jeho- 
vah and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the 
altar. 8 According to the same document, the divine 
glory appeared at various times during the journey in 
the desert, to rebuke the murmurs and revolts of the 
people. 9 It appears from all this that the sanctuary of 
Israel was regarded as the place where the glory of 
Jehovah dwelt. 10 

i Num. xiv. 21 f. ; Isa. vi. 3; Hab. ii. 14. 

2 Deut. v. 24 ; Ezek. xxxix. 21 ; Isa. xxxv. 2 ; xl. 5 ; Ps. xix. 1 f. ; 
lvii. 5, 11 ; xcvi. 3. 3 Ezek. i. 28 ; iii. 23. 4 Ezek. x. 4. 

5 Ezek. xliii. 1-5. 6 1 Kings viii. 10 f. ; 2 Chron. v. 14 ; vii. 1-3. 

7 Ex. xl. 34 f. ; xxix. 43. 8 Lev. ix. 6; 23 f. 

9 Ex. xvi. 7, 10 ; Num. xiv. 10 ; xvi. 19, 42. 

10 Ps. xxvi. 8 ; comp. lxiii. 7. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 141 

2. The Name of God. — The name of God is very- 
analogous to his glory. Sometimes the two terms seem 
to be synonymous. Deutero-Isaiah, for example, says: 
" The name of Jehovah shall be feared from the west, 
and his glory from the rising of the sun." 1 And a 
psalmist exclaims : " The nations shall fear the name 
of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth thy glory! " 2 
As the glory of God is especially connected with the 
sanctuary, so is his name. 3 The name of God then, 
like his glory, denotes his peculiar presence. 

We find also in the mouth of Jehovah these expres- 
sions as synonymous: "For the sake of my name" and 
"for my own sake." 4 Jeremiah says both that Jehovah 
swears by himself, 5 and that he swears by his name. 6 
Isaiah makes Jehovah say : " They shall sanctify my 
name, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob." 7 
According to deutero-Isaiah, to trust in the name of 
Jehovah and to lean upon God are one and the same 
thing. 8 Elsewhere Jehovah and his name are placed in 
parallelism as having the same signification. 9 Since 
the name of God, like his glory, is what man may 
know of the Deity, and since the Old Testament speaks 
exclusively of God as revealed, known, the identifica- 
tion of Jehovah and his name is very natural. 

This identification seems also to be of very early date. 
According to document A, Jehovah says to Israel, after 

1 Isa. lix. 10 ; comp. xlii. 8 ; xliii. 7. 2 Ps. cii. 16. 

3 2 vSam. vii. 13 ; Isa. xviii. 7 ; Jer. vii. 12 ; Dout. xii. 5, 11 ; xiv. 23 ; 
xvi. 6, 11 ; 1 Kings viii. 20 ; ix. 3 ; 2 Kings xxi. 4, 7 ; xxiii. 27. 

4 Isa. xlviii. 0, 11. 5 xxii. 5 ; xlix. 13. G xliv. 20. 7 xxix. 23. 

8 Isa. 1. 10. 

9 Isa. lii. ; lxiv. 1 ; Ps. lxxvi. 1 ; lxxxvi. 12 ; ciii. 1 ; cxlv. 1 f. ; 
cxlviii. 1-5. 



142 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the promulgation of the law, that he will send an angel 
before them to protect them and bring them to the land 
of Canaan, and adds that his name shall be in this 
angel. 1 Now Reuss translates "my name " here simply 
"ma personne." In fact, the name of God is here God 
himself, who will be with Israel to lead, protect, and 
bless them. In other passages the name of God is God 
in his various manifestations, whether their object is 
to protect and bless, or to execute his wrath and his 
judgments. 2 

As is well known, the prophets often declare that 
they speak or act in the name of Jehovah, which unques- 
tionably means that they speak or act by his power or 
authority. In other passages God says that he acts 
only for the sake of his name, toward men, more espe- 
cially toward Israel, who are unfaithful and unworthy 
of divine blessings ; that he acts, that he blesses, for 
the sake of his name, to prevent it from being profaned 
in the eyes of the nations, and to make it known, to 
sanctify and glorify it. 8 

In view of all this, Oehler has justly said: "The 
name of God is not a mere title that God takes by virtue 
of the divine relations into which he enters with men ; 
it denotes at the same time all that God can reveal 
of himself, and, if we may be allowed the expression, 
all that side of the Deity that is turned toward 
man." And again: "The name of God is every - 

1 Ex. xxiii. 21. 

2 Isa. xxx. 27 ; xxvi. 8 ; Jer. x. 6 ; Mic. v. 4 ; 1 Kings viii. 42 ; Prov. 
xviii. 10 ; Ps. liv. 1 ; cxliii. 11. 

3 Ezek. xx. 9, 14, 22, 44 ; xxxvi. 20-23 ; Isa. xlviii. 9 ; 1 Kings viii. 
41-43 ; Ps. xxiii. 3 ; xxv. 11 ; xxxi. 3 ; lxxix. 9 ; cvi. 8 ; cix. 21. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 143 

where where the presence of the living God is felt and 
experienced. 1 

3. The Face of God. — Another expression that is 
very analogous to those preceding is the "face of God." 
It likewise denotes that side of the Deity that is acces- 
sible to men, and it also is identified with God. 

Jacob, after having maintained the mysterious strug- 
gle with God reported by document A, calls the place 
of this struggle Peni-el, or Face of God ; for, says he, 
I have seen God face to face. 2 It is said likewise that 
God spoke with Moses face to face. 3 According to Ex. 
xxxiii. 14-16, God promises Moses that his face shall 
attend the people Israel across the desert. Moses re- 
plies to God: "If thy face come not, make us not go 
up hence. And how shall it be known that I have 
found favor in thy eyes, I and my people ? Shall it not 
be if thou come with us ? " Moses, then, identifies God 
with his face. Reuss here renders " my face " and " thy 
face," "ma personne " and "ta personne," and Segond 
employs simply the personal pronouns "moi-meme " and 
"toi-meme." These two scholars translate in the same 
way Deut. iv. 37, where Moses reminds the people that 
Jehovah brought them from Egypt by his face and by 
his great power. According to Lam. iv. 16, the face of 
God dispersed the Israelites at the destruction of Jeru- 
salem. In Ps. xxi. 9 it is said of Jehovah that he 
will make his enemies like a glowing furnace on the 
day when he shows his face. The face of God, then, 
like his name and his glory, denotes the presence of 
God, manifesting himself by the protection that he 
grants or the punishments that he sends to men. 
1 § 50 ; comp. Schultz, II. pp. 122 ff. 2 Gen. xxxii. 30. 3 Ex. xxxiii. 11. 



144 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The analogy between the face of Gocl and the name of 
God appears also from Num. vi. 25-27, where it is said 
that in blessing the people Israel in the words : " Jeho- 
vah make shine" or "lift his face upon thee," — the 
high-priest puts the name of Jehovah upon them. 

On the contrary, there are two passages that declare 
that man is not able to see the face of God. 1 This 
term, therefore, which usually denotes the accessible 
side of the Deity, here, exceptionally, denotes the in- 
visible side of God. 

4. The MalaJch of God. — As the revealed God is 
identified with the glory, the name, or the face, of Gocl, 
so also, in the case of the malakh, i.e. according to the 
ordinary translation, the angel of God, or of Jehovah. 
He is mentioned as early as the song of Deborah. 2 

It is easy to satisfy one's self that there exists a close 
analogy between the angel of God and his face. On 
the one hand it is said that the angel of God delivered 
Israel from Egyptian slavery and accompanied them 
across the desert; 3 on the other, that this was his face. 4 
Deutero-Isaiah evidently attempts to combine these two 
points of view in speaking of the angel of the face of 
God who saved Israel from all his afflictions. 5 

The analogy that exists between the angel of God 
and his face perfectly explains the identification of the 
angel with God himself. It is found in a large number 
of passages. The malakh of Jehovah is mentioned for 
the first time in the narrative, Gen. xvi. 7-12, where lie 
appears to Hagar. But in v. 13, Hagar calls the name 

1 Ex. xxxiii. 20 and 33. 2 Jud. v. 23. 

3 Ex. xiv. 10 ; xxiii. 20-23 ; xxxii. 34 ; xxxiii. 2 ; Num. xx. 16. 

4 Ex. xxxiii. 14 f. : Deut. iv. 37. 5 Isa. lxiii. 9. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 145 

of Jehovah, who has spoken to her, Attah-El-roi, which 
means : Thou art a God who sees. There is here, then, 
an identification of the angel of Jehovah with the name 
of Jehovah and with Jehovah himself. God and his 
angel are further identified in the following passages : 
Gen. xxi. 17-19; xxii. 11-18; xxxi. 11-13; xlviii. 
15 f.; Ex. iii. 2-6; Jud. ii. 1 ff. ; vi. 11-16, 20-24; 
Zech. xii. 8. According to Ex. xiv. 19, the angel of 
God goes before the camp of Israel ; according to vv. 24 f . 
and xiii. 21, it is Jehovah himself. Hosea, alluding 
to the narrative of Genesis that reports the struggle of 
Jacob with God, says first that the patriarch strove with 
God, and then adds that he strove with the angel. 1 

There exist, however, passages where God and his 
malakh are distinguished the one from the other as if 
they were two different persons. 2 In one instance 
identification and distinction occur in the same narra- 
tive. An angel of Jehovah, called also a man of God, 
appears to the parents of Samson ; 3 he is clearly dis- 
tinguished from Jehovah; 4 and yet, after his disappear- 
ance, Manoah says to his wife : " We shall die, for we 
have seen God." 5 

Theologians have given much attention to the ques- 
tion who the malakh of God really is, but they have 
reached very divergent conclusions. According to some, 
he is an angel, but not always the same one; accord- 
ing to others, he is always one and the same angel; some 
even of these latter, attempting a more precise identifi- 
cation, have maintained that he is the archangel Michael 

i Hos. xii. 3 f. 

2 Gen. xxiv. 7, 40; Num. xxii. .'il ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 10; Zech. i. L2 f. 

8 Jud. xiii. 3, ff. ' Jud. xiii. 8 f., 10, 18 f. b Jud. xiii. 22. 



146 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

of the book of Daniel. Some say that he is a created, 
others that he is an uncreated, being; many, especially 
in earlier times, have seen in him the logos, the second 
person of the Trinity; others, in modern times, regard 
him, not as a personal being at all, but simply a tem- 
porary appearance of God. Oehler, after having men- 
tioned and rejected all these various solutions, arrives 
at the conclusion that the passages in which there is 
reference to the angel of God do not all agree with one 
another, and that from the standpoint of the Old Tes- 
tament it is difficult to reach an exact idea who he is. 
He, therefore, has recourse to the teaching of the New 
Testament concerning the logos to find an answer to 
the question. 1 

We think that it is not necessary to go so far to find 
the solution, but that it is found in the Old Testament 
itself, more precisely in what we have already learned 
respecting the glory, the name, and the face of God. 
These three manifestations are very analogous to the 
angel of God. This is what strikes one everywhere, 
when the term is taken in its strict signification. Reuss 
says on this subject: "The original signification of the 
word, which is usually translated angel, is abstract, and 
corresponds nearly to the French word delegation. God 
is an invisible, impalpable being, and if it pleases him 
to bring himself within the comprehension of man, it 
is not his very essence that the latter grasps ; it is a form, 
a sign, an appearance, a phenomenon ; in fine, some- 
thing that might be said to be separated from the Deity 
or delegated by it." 2 

] §60. 

2 On Gen. xvi. 7, comp. Dillinann on Ex. iii. 2 ; [Schultz, II. pp. 
221 fl.]. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 147 

As there exists a close analogy between the angel of 
God, on the one hand, and his face, his name, his glory, 
on the other, it is natural that the first should some- 
times be identified with God and sometimes distin- 
guished from him; we have shown that the same is the 
case with respect to the other three manifestations. 
God appears in the world under various forms. They 
may be taken for God himself, since man does not know 
God in any other way. But from a higher standpoint, 
a distinction must be made between form and substance, 
between appearance and essence, between God for us 
and God in himself, between the revealed and the 
hidden, the visible and the invisible God. The only 
difference between the angel of God and the other divine 
manifestations that have been mentioned is that the 
angel is a personal manifestation ; he is not merely a 
delegation, he becomes, by virtue of his personal char- 
acter, a delegate. But this is only a formal difference; 
in substance there is a striking analogy among the 
various divine manifestations of which we have here 
spoken. 

IT. Cherubim and Seraphim. 

1. Cherubim. — This is the place to speak of the 
cherubim, whose chief function is to render God visible, 
and to symbolize his presence. 

We read in two parallel passages of some antiquity, 
2 Sam. xxii. 11, and Ps. xviii. 10, that Jehovah, appear- 
ing in the midst of the tempest, was mounted on a 
cherub, that he flew and soared on the wings of the 
wind. Ezekiel saw the glory of Jehovah go up from 



148 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the cherubim which had appeared to him in a vision 1 
and then rest again upon them. 2 

In chapters i. and x. of his book this prophet gives 
us a detailed description of the cherubim, and Riehm's 
Handivorterbueh, in art. Cherubim, contains a figure 
corresponding to this description. We leave to archae- 
ology the task of discussing details, content to call at- 
tention to the fact that the cherubim are composed of 
four living beings, have a man's, a lion's, a bull's, and 
an eagle's face apiece, and rest on a fantastic car, that 
can move in all directions, and that serves as the throne 
of God and the vehicle of his glory. 3 

This chariot without horses symbolizes the principal 
attributes of God. Thus the human figure represents 
the divine intelligence; the lion's, the divine power; 
the bull's, the generative or creative might of God; 
finally, the eagle's, his omniscience or his providence. 
As for the wheels that can turn in all directions, and 
are covered with eyes, 4 they represent at once the om- 
nipresence and the omniscience of God. 

The fact that the cherubim form the throne of God, 
and are the vehicle of his glory and the symbols of his 
presence, evidently explains why images of them are 
found in the sanctuary where Jehovah was supposed 
more especially to dwell. Two statues of cherubim ten 
cubits in height were placed in the holy of holies of the 
temple of Solomon. 5 Their forms were carved on the 
walls and on certain sacred utensils. 6 They were re- 
produced on the veil that hid the holy of holies. 7 

i ix. 3 ; x. 4. 2 x. 18 f. ; xi. 22. 3 Ezek. i. 4 ff. ; x. 1 ft, 9 ft 

4 Ezek. i. 15 ff. ; x. ff. 5 1 Kings vi. 28-28. 

6 1 Kings vi. 29-85 ; vii. 29, 3G ; 2 Chron. iii. 7. 7 2 Cliron. iii. 14. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 149 

According to document C, the Mosaic tabernacle was 
ornamented in the same fashion. 1 Finally, in the ideal 
temple of Ezekiel, we again encounter the same thing. 2 

The figures of the cherubim in the temple and the 
tabernacle have only one face, and therefore differ from 
the cherubim of Ezekiel, which have four faces; but 
they also represent the throne of God, and symbolize 
the presence of God : in Israel Jehovah, in all ages, was 
imagined as seated between the cherubim or enthroned 
above them. 3 

The cherubim, finally, take the part of guardians of 
sacred things. In the sanctuary they cover with 
their wings the ark of the covenant, where Jehovah is 
more especially present ; 4 they are stationed with spread 
wings at the entrance of the holy of holies where the 
ark is kept. 5 Thus they guard the thrice sacred pres- 
ence of God, and in a sense veil it that nothing unclean 
or profane may approach it. We likewise see cherubim 
posted on the east of the Garden of Eden, to guard the 
way to the tree of life, 6 that sinful man may not approach 
it. They are, therefore, the guardians of sacred things, 
the protectors, as Ezekiel calls them." 

How did the Israelites come to imagine these strange 
figures? It is difficult to say. The etymology of the 
word cherubim is uncertain, hence it cannot greatly aid 

1 Ex. xxv. 18-20 ; xxxvii. 7-9 ; xxvi. 1, 31 , xxxvi. 8, ,35. 

2 Ezek. xli. 17 ft 

8 1 .Sam. iv. 4 ; 2 Sam. vi. 2 ; 2 Kings xix. 15 ; 1 Chron. xiii. (5 ; Ex. 
xxv. 22; Num. vii. 8 ( .) ; Ps. lxxx. 1 ; xcix. 1. 

4 1 Kings viii. 6 f. \ 1 Chron. xxviii. 18; 2 Chron. v. 7 f. ; Ex. xxv. 
20; xxxvii. 9. 

5 1 Kings vi. 27 ; 2 Chron. iii. xiii. ; Ex. xxv. 20 ; xxxvii. 9. 

c Gen. iii. 24. ' xxviii. 14, 10. 



150 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

in elucidating the subject. What is certain is that 
analogous conceptions exist among other peoples of an- 
tiquity. 1 It is probable that the cherubim, which to 
the imagination of the Hebrews were real and living 
beings, a kind of winged monsters, owed their origin 
to the phenomena of the tempest. The clouds, some- 
times black, sometimes bright, chased by the wind, 
seem to have given rise to the idea that the divine glory, 
majesty, was being borne by these clouds as by winged 
beings or a flying chariot. This seems clear from Ps. 
xviii., which we have already cited, but also from vari- 
ous passages in Ezekiel, where the cherubim are accom- 
panied by a violent wind, thick clouds, great noise, 
where they are like the lightning, a flashing fire and a 
brilliant light. 2 Be it also remembered, that according 
to document A, God appeared to Israel when the law 
was promulgated, in the midst of the noise, the clouds, 
and the fire of the tempest. 3 Finally, let it be remem- 
bered that the glory of God, of which the cherubim are 
the vehicle, appeared to the Israelites as a devouring 
fire, and a dazzling light, as we saw at the beginning 
of this paragraph. 

2. Seraphim. — The seraphim are somewhat like the 
cherubim. There is reference to them, however, in but 
one passage, Isa. vi. 1-7. The prophet there says : 
"In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord 

1 Dillmann, Bibel-Lexikon ; and Riehm, Handworterbuch, art. Cher- 
ubim ; [Smith, Dictionary, art. Cherub ; Lenormant, Beginnings, pp. 
117 ff.]. 

2 i. 4, 7, 13 f., 24 ; iii. 12 f. ; x. 2, 4-7 ; comp. Schultz, II. pp. 220 f . ; 
Dillmann, Bibel-Lexikon, p. 509 ; Riehm, Handworterhuch, pp. 228, 
232. 

3 Ex. xix. 9 ff. ; xxiv. 15 ff. ; comp. Dent. iv. 11. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 151 

sitting on a very lofty throne, while the train of his 
robe filled the temple. Seraphim hovered above him; 
each of them had six wings; with two of them they 
covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, 
and with two they flew. They cried one to another 
and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts! the 
whole earth is full of his glory.' The doors were 
shaken to their foundation by the voice as it resounded, 
and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said: 
'Woe is me! I am undone, for I am a man whose lips 
are unclean, I dwell in the midst of a people whose lips 
are unclean, and my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah 
of hosts.' But one of the seraphim flew toward me, 
holding a glowing stone in his hand, that he had taken 
with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with 
it and said: 'This hath touched thy lips; thy iniquity 
is removed and thy sin is expiated.' " 

What is the etymology, and what is the signification 
of the word seraphim? What are the seraphim them- 
selves ? what form have they, and what is their nature ? 
Finally, what are their functions ? These are questions 
that have been variously answered by various scholars. 1 
It must be admitted that, as Schultz remarks, it is diffi- 
cult to form a perfectly clear idea of the seraphim from 
the single passage that speaks of them. Reuss, after 
Laving rejected the traditional idea, according to which 
the seraphim were winged angels, adds: "In Hebrew 
saraph is always a serpent, and we know that the serpent 
played a part in oriental symbolism, as a representative 
of certain divine attributes (mystery, eternity). We 



1 Winer, Bealworterbuch, art. Seraphim; Schultz, II. pp. 237 ff. 
the commentaries; [Smith, Dictionary, art. Seraphim"]. 



152 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

find it used in figurative representations of God among 
the Jews. 1 It is not here a question of simple serpents, 
but of composite forms (like those of Ezekiel's cheru- 
bim) that have parts of serpents, birds (wings), and men 
(hands). These forms, created by the imagination of 
the author, seem to us grotesque, because we are not 
accustomed to symbolize abstract ideas such as the 
divine attributes by hybrid combinations of animal forms. 
These ideas thus become animate, personal beings, 
and take their place as a species under the abstract 
notion of God." 2 

This explanation, simple as it is, seems to us nearer 
the truth than many more elaborate that have been pro- 
posed. It is evident that the seraphim are very analo- 
gous to the cherubim of Ezekiel. They both appear to 
the prophets in visions. Both are of a composite nature. 
The seraphim, like the cherubim, have wings with which 
they cover their bodies. 3 The latter, after the fashion 
of the former, cry: "Blessed be the glory of Jehovah 
from the place of his abode!" 4 One of them brings 
glowing coals to a messenger of God, that he may scat- 
ter them over the city of Jerusalem. 5 Moreover, we 
must not try to be too exact or lose sight of the fact that 
we are dealing with a prophetic vision, which, like so 
many other visions of the same kind, is important only 
for the subjective and religious ideas that it expresses. 
The above considerations show that the cherubim and 
seraphim are not angels, as has often been thought. 
Not to speak of other differences, there is this entirely 

1 Num. xx i. 2 ; 2 Kings xviii. 4. 

2 On Isa. vi. 2, comp. Baudissin, Studien, I. pp. 25-5 ff. 
SEzek. i. 11. 4 Ezek. iii. 12. 5 Ezek. x. 2, (3 f. 



SECOND PERIOD. § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 153 

external distinction, that the former have wings ; while 
the angels, as we shall see, appear throughout the Old 
Testament in the human form and without wings, and 
they receive titles that are never given to the cheru- 
bim or the seraphim. 

III. Angels. 

We have seen that the malakh of God, though he is 
generally represented as a personal being, is not a being 
distinct from God, an angel properly so-called, but a 
simple appearance in the visible world of the invisible 
God. The same may be the case every time there is 
reference to malakhim. This is what Reuss, for exam- 
ple, in part maintains. 1 He takes the malakhim for 
veritable angels only in certain passages, like Job iv. 
18; xxxiii. 23; Ps. xci. 11; ciii. 20; cxlviii. 2. 2 Bib- 
lical angelology cannot then be based chiefly on the 
passages in which there is reference to malakhim. 

An old fragment, Gen. vi. 1-4, speaks of sons of God 
who take for wives the daughters of men and with them 
beget the heroes famous in antiquity. Now these sons 
of God are superhuman beings, veritable angels. 3 The 
angels are often called sons of God 4 and even Gods."' 
An old passage, Dent, xxxiii. 2, says that when Jeho- 
vah appeared from Sinai to the children of Israel, he 
came forth from the midst of myriads of holy ones. 
These myriads can only have been celestial beings, 

i Gesch., §§ 200, 366. 2 Gesch., §§ 230, 482. 

B See Reuss and Dillmann, [Delitzsch], LI.; Budde, Biblische 
Urgesch., p. •') ; [Lenormant, Beginnings, pp. 205 ff.]. 

4 -Job i. 6 ; ii. 1 ; xxxviii. 7 ; l\s. xxix. 1 ; lxxxix. 0; Dan. iii. 25. 
6 Ps. viii. 5 ; lxxxii. 1. 



154 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

angels. Still elsewhere, the angels are called holy 
ones. 1 These various titles that are given to them in- 
dicate their exalted nature and character. With re- 
spect to their functions they are called servants of God, 2 
and also malakhim, messengers, as we have seen in some 
of the passages cited. 

A passage in document A speaks of a superhuman 
man, calling himself the chief of the host of Jehovah, 
who appeared to Joshua; Joshua cast himself on the 
ground before him and at his command removed his 
shoes from his feet, on account of the holiness of the 
place. 3 The angels are more than once represented as 
forming an army or a congregation that surrounds the 
throne of God, to receive his commands and execute 
them among men. 4 This is their chief office, and it is 
for this reason that they are called the servants of God, 
or his messengers. They sing, besides, the praises of 
God in his heavenly temple. 5 

The angels generally have the human form. 6 In the 
mythological fragment, Gen. vi. 1-4, they appear even 
as sensual beings. But as we have seen, they are 
called gods, sons of God, and holy ones; they were, 
then, evidently regarded as heavenly beings, partakers 
of the divine nature, clothed with superior purity. 

1 Zech. xiv. 5 ; Job v. 1 ; xv. 15 ; Ps. lxxxix. 5, 7 ; Dan. iv. 13, 17, 
23 ; viii. 13. 

2 Job iv. 18 ; comp. Ps. ciii. 20 f. 

3 Josh. v. 13-15 ; comp. Ex. iii. 5. 

4 Job i. 6 ff. ; ii. 1 ft". ; 1 Kings xxii. 19 ff. ; 2 Kings vi. 10 f. ; Dan. 
vii. 9 f. ; Ps. lxviii. 17 ; lxxxix. 5-7 ; ciii. 20 f . ; cxlviii. 2. 

5 Job xxxviii. 7 ; Ps. xxix. 1 f., 9 ; ciii. 20 ; cxlviii. 2. 

c Josh. v. 13 ff. ; Ezek. ix. 2 il. ; xl. 3 ff. ; xliii. ; Dan. viii. 15 ff. ; 
x. 16 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 155 

According to the book of Job, however, they are not 
absolutely pure in the eyes of God. 1 

Schultz, among others, claims that the belief in the 
existence of angels had its origin in the polytheism of 
the ancient Semites; that, when the idea of a single 
and sovereign God began to replace and prevail over 
polytheistic ideas, the numerous divinities that had 
hitherto been acknowledged, became elohim of an infe- 
rior order, bene elohim, angels. He bases this opinion 
mainly upon Gen. iii. 22, where God seems to be sur- 
rounded by beings similar to himself, and Jud. ix. 9 
and 13, which speak of gods, and contain, as it were, 
echoes of ancient Semitic polytheism. 2 

To this view, " that the angels of the Old Testament 
are dethroned gods," Oehler, following deWette, replies, 
that " if such were the case, it is the first books of the 
Old Testament and not the last in which the angels 
should appear with functions and names most clearly 
defined." 3 This reply is far from being decisive; sev- 
eral passages of document A, cited above, in fact prove 
that, even in early times, the Israelites believed in the 
existence of a multitude of angels, and placed a chief at 
the head of this celestial host. What seems, moreover, 
to confirm the view of Schultz, is the fact that there is 
nowhere in the Old Testament any reference to the 
creation of angels ; it is fair to conclude that they were 
regarded as having always existed; according to Job 
xxxviii. 7, they were present even during the work of 
creation. 4 

i iv. 18; xv. 15. 

2 II. pp. 215 ff. ; comp. I. pp. 184 f. and T. chap. vii. 

8 § Gl ; comp. de Wette, Archeologie, § 108. 4 Schultz, II. pp. 227 f. 



156 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Since, in poetical language, the forces of nature are 
sometimes personified and entitled messengers or angels 
of God, 1 it has been concluded that the angels were 
originally personifications of the forces of nature, or, 
according to other passages, 2 extraordinary events sent 
by God. 3 But it is evident that such a personification 
presupposes belief in the existence of angels. 4 Most of 
the passages quoted in favor of this hypothesis, more- 
over, are of recent date, and therefore lack the evidential 
value attributed to them. 

IV. The Spirit of God. 

We have already spoken of the spirit of God in con- 
nection with prophetism, creation, and providence. We 
have recognized its activity in various spheres. We 
have only to complete what we have said on this sub- 
ject. 

We have seen that the angel and the face of God 
were with the children of Israel and led them across the 
desert. Deutero-Isaiah also recalls the fact that the 
angel of the face of God saved the Israelites from afflic- 
tion, that he bore them and carried them in olden times ; 
but immediately afterwards he adds that it was Jeho- 
vah who, by his holy spirit, accomplished this work of 
salvation. 5 The book of Nehemiah says that God gave 
his good spirit to the children of Israel, during their 
journey in the desert, to make them wise. 6 Haggai 

1 Ps. lxxviii. 49 ; civ. 4 ; cxlviii. 8 ; comp. cxlvii. 15. 

2 Gen. xxi. 17 ; xxviii. 12 ; 2 Kings xix. 35 ; Ps. xxxv. 5 f. ; xxxiv. 
7; xci. 11. 

3 De Wette, as above. 4 Oehler, as above. 5 Isa. lxiii. 9-14. 
6 ix. 20. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 12. MANIFESTATION OF GOD. 157 

takes a similar standpoint when he makes God say: "I 
am with you, I remain faithful to the covenant that I 
made with you when ye came forth from Egypt, and my 
spirit is in your midst." 1 In these passages the spirit 
of God is clearly placed on the same level as several 
of the divine manifestations of which we spoke at the 
beginning of this chapter. But this is a rare and late 
standpoint, which is seldom found, especially in the 
earliest documents. 

In the book of Judges, it is often said that the spirit 
of God, taking possession of the judges, renders them 
capable of daring projects and heroic actions. 2 Accord- 
ing to Gen. xli. 38, Pharaoh, seeing the wonderful 
wisdom of Joseph, says to his servants : " Shall we find 
a man like this one, having in him the spirit of God?" 
This spirit is, in fact, considered the source of wisdom 
and understanding, of counsel and strength. 3 It is 
granted especially to the . chiefs of the people Israel, 
whose duty it is to judge and govern them. 4 It pro- 
duces fear of God in the heart, 5 regenerates it, 6 and 
teaches it to do the divine will. 7 According to docu- 
ment C, it is the spirit of God also that gives to the 
workmen the intelligence and skill necessary to prepare 
the objects used in the service of the sanctuary, and 
makes them real artists. 8 All the extraordinary gifts 
of man, physical and moral, are regarded as produced 

1 ii. 5. 

2 Jud. iii. 10 ; vi. .34 ; xi. 29 ; xiii. 25 ; xiv. G, 19 ; xv. 14 ; cprap. 
1 Sam. xi. 0. 

3 Isa. xi. 2 ; Mic. iii. 8 ; Job xxxii. 8 ; Dent, xxxiv. 9. 

4 Num. xi. 17 ; xxvii. IS ; Jud. iii. 10 ; 1 Sam. xvi. 13 ; Isa. xi. 2 IT. 
•> Isa. xi. 2. . ''' Ps. Ii. 10 1'. ' Ezek. xxxvi. 27 ; l's. cxliii. 10. 
8 Ex. xxviii. 3 ; xxxi. 3 IT. ; xxxv. 31 ii. 



158 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

by the spirit of God. Throughout the Old Testament 
the spirit appears as essentially a divine power commu- 
nicating to man all the superior abilities that he may 
possess. 1 

The most characteristic feature of the activity of the 
divine spirit in the world is unquestionably that by 
virtue of which it is represented as the agent of evil. 
In early Hebraism there is no reference, as there is in 
the Jewish and the Christian church, on the one hand, 
to good spirits, whose activity is always beneficent, 
and, on the other, to evil spirits, whose influence is 
always harmful. The same spirit of God is believed to 
act sometimes in the one way and sometimes in the 
other. Hebraism is thus as far removed from dualism 
as from pantheism. 

Thus, in order to explain the discord that broke out 
between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Shechem, it 
is said, Jud. ix. 23, that God sent an evil spirit among 
them. The melancholy that takes possession of Saul is 
referred to the influence of an evil spirit coming from 
Jehovah, or of an evil spirit from God. 2 This is the 
Hebrew standpoint with respect to evil spirits; they 
appear, not as personal beings independent of God, 
least of all as beings hostile to God, but as simple 
emanations or effects of the activity of God in the 
world. 

1 Knobel, Dor Frophetismus der Hebriier, I. § 10 ; [Schultz, II. pp. 
202 ff.]. 

2 1 Sam. xvi. 14-16, 23 ; xviii. 10 ; xix. 9. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 13. THE NATURE OF MAN. 159 

§ 13. THE tfATUKE OP MAN. 

After having become acquainted with Jehovah, the 
God of Israel, the God of the covenant, we shall next 
consider man, with whom the covenant was made. We 
shall first of all discuss what, in modern times, has been 
called biblical psychology. We shall see how little this 
pretentious term befits the simple conceptions of the 
Hebrews concerning the human soul. 

The older account of creation tells us : " God formed 
man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his 
nostrils a breath of life, and man became a living soul." 1 
This way of looking at the matter appears elsewhere 
also in the Old Testament. The book of Job declares 
that man was formed from clay, 2 and that it is the breath 
of the Almighty that gives him life. 3 It calls respira- 
tion the breath of God in the nostrils of man. 4 It says 
that if God recalled his spirit and his breath, man would 
return to the dust. 5 We read exactly the same thing 
respecting animals, Ps. civ. 29. Ecclesiastes teaches 
that, when man dies, the dust returns to the earth as it 
was, and the spirit, the vital breath of man, returns to 
God who gave it. 6 Thus the body of man, being taken 
from the earth, is purely material, but it is animated by 
a vital breath that comes from God. 

The body of man is often called flesh, 7 and this same 
term is applied to animals, 8 which are taken from the 

1 Gen. ii. 7. 2 xxxiii. G. 3 xxxiii.4. 

4 xxvii. 3. 5 xxxiv. 14 f. c xii. 1). 

7 Gen. ii. 23 f. ; vi. 3 ; xxix. 14 ; xxxvii. 27 ; Lev. xiii. 2 if. ; Jud. 
ix. 2 ; 2 Sam. v. 1 ; xix. 13. 

8 Gen. vi. 10 ; vii. 15 f. ; viii. 17 ; Lev. xvii. 14 ; Num. xviii. 15. 



160 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

earth like man. 1 The expression "all flesh" often de- 
notes both men and animals, all living beings. 2 Man 
as a whole is sometimes called flesh or dust, when the 
object is to emphasize his weakness, his nothingness, 
especially in contrast with God. 3 

Man, vivified by the creative breath of God, is called 
nephesh chayyah, living soul. 4 But animals also are 
thus designated. 5 This is natural, since the term 
nephesh, whose root means breathe, often denotes only the 
principle of life, as numerous passages testify. How- 
ever, in just as many passages the same term serves to 
designate the spiritual part of man, the seat of all the 
affections, and the organ of all the functions of the soul. 

Hence we must conclude that the vital principle and 
spiritual part of man, to the thought of the Hebrews, 
were one, that they did not distinguish the principle of 
life from the principle that thinks, feels, and wills. 
According to the Old Testament, the seat of the soul is 
in the blood. 6 This is another proof that the Hebrews 
identified the principle of corporeal with that of spirit- 
ual life. The idea that the seat of the soul is in the 
blood, moreover, is easily explained. Since the soul is 
the principle of life, and life ceases after a great loss of 
blood, nothing was more natural for the untaught ob- 
server than to conclude that the soul resided in the 
blood. 

1 Gen. ii. 19 ; comp. i. 24. 

2 Gen. vi. 12 f., 17 ; ix. 11, 16 f. ; Num. xvi. 22 ; xviii. 15 ; xxvii. 16 ; 
Jer. xxxii. 27. 

3 Gen. xviii. 27 ; Isa. xxxi. 3 ; xl. 6 f . ; Jer. xvii. 5 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 
8 ; Ps. lvi. 4 ; lxxviii. 39 ; ciii. 14. 4 Gen. ii. 7. 

3 Gen. ii. 19 ; i. 20 f., 24, 30 ; ix. 10, 12, 16. 
6 Gen. ix. 4 f. ; Lev. xvii. 11, U; Deut. xii. 23. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 13. THE NATURE OF MAN. 161 

Besides a nephesh, the Old Testament represents man 
as possessed of a ruach, spirit. The root of this word 
also means breathe and blow. Thus it is used to denote 
the wind and the breath. Moreover, it denotes the 
principle of life in men and animals. 1 Nothing, again, 
is more natural than this way of thinking and speak- 
ing, since respiration, the breath, is the visible sign of 
life, and the two cease together. The ruach, like the 
nephesh, is besides, as appears from numerous passages, 
the origin of all the affections, and all the functions of 
the human soul, the spiritual part of man. 

There is then a close resemblance between the nephesh 
and the ruach. It even seems as if they are only two 
different names to designate one and the same thing. 
Thus, to cite only a few examples, Job xii. 10 affirms 
that Jehovah holds in his hand the soul of everything 
that lives, the spirit of all human flesh. A prophet 
cries to God: "My soul desireth thee in the night, my 
spirit within me seeketh thee." 2 To denote impatience, 
the expression used is either the nephesh is shortened, 3 
or the ruach is shortened. 4 When life departs, the ex- 
pression employed is either the spirit departs, 5 or the 
soul departs. 6 Likewise, when life returns to a person, 
it is said the spirit has returned to him, 7 or the soul 
has returned to him. 8 Sorrow affects both the spirit 
and the soul. 9 Bitterness is predicated of the spirit, 10 

1 Gen. vi. 17 ; xlv. 27; Jud. xv. 10 ; 1 Sam. xxx. 12 ; Job xii. 10 ; 
Eccl. iii. 10, 21; viii. 8;'Isa. lvii. 10; Ezuk. x. 17; xxxvii. 8; llab. 
ii. 10. 2 i sa . xx vi. <). 

3 Num. xxi. 4. 4 Job xxi. 4 ; Ex. vi. 0. 5 Ps. lxxvii. 3 ; cxlvi. 4. 

6 Gen. xxxv. 18 ; 1 Kings xix. 4 ; .Ion. iv. 3 ; Ps. cvii. 5. 

7 Jud. xv. 10; 1 Sain. xxx. 12. * 1 Kings xvii. 21 f. 
9 Job vii. 11. 10 Gen. xxvi. 35. 



162 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

and of the soul, 1 and so forth. If we cared to take the 
pains to carry this parallelism farther, we should see 
that the spirit appears as the organ and seat of all the 
spiritual faculties of man, and that it is precisely so with 
the soul. 

A third term, but one that is much less frequently 
employed than the two preceding, has their principal 
significations. It is nesharnah, whose root means blow, 
and which denotes both the breath and the principle of 
life. 2 It is applied in this sense to men and animals. 3 
But it denotes also the intellectual principle that comes 
to man from God, and it is employed as a synonym of 
ruacJiA 

We come finally to lebli and lebhabh, that is to say, 

the heart. The heart seems in some passages to be 

regarded as the seat or centre of corporeal life. In 

taking food one strengthens one's heart. 5 1 Sam. xxv. 

37 also says that the heart of Nabal died and became 

like a stone, which probably means that Nabal was 

smitten with apoplexy (Reuss). These are, however, 

isolated passages, exceptions to the rule illustrated by 

numerous examples that the soul and the spirit appear 

as the principle of corporeal life. It is worthy of special 

attention that while the nephesh and the ruach are both 

attributed to animals, this is not the case with lebli ; a 

sufficient proof that there is a real difference between 

the first two and the last. As organs of spiritual life, 

however, they greatly resemble one another. 

i 1 Sam. i. 10 ; Job xxvii. 2. 

2 Gen. ii. 7 ; Dent, xx. 16 ; Josh. x. 40 ; xi. 11, 14 ; 1 Kings xvii. 11 ; 
Job xxvii. 3 ; Isa. ii. 22 ; Mi. 16. 3 Gen. vii. 22 ; comp. Ps. cl. 6. 

4 Job xxxii. 8 ; xxxiii. 4 ; xxxiv. 14 ; Prov. xx. 27 ; Isa. xlii. 5. 

5 Gen. xviii. 5 ; Jud. xix. 5, 8 ; Ps. civ. 15 ; comp. 1 Kings xxi. 7. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 13. THE NATURE OF MAN. 1G3 

We will first consider some passages in which soul 
and heart are employed as synonyms. Thus the re- 
membrance of the benefits of God is to be preserved 
both in the soul and in the heart. 1 The words of Jeho- 
vah are to be laid up in the soul and in the heart; 2 God 
must be sought with all the heart and with all the soul ; 3 
one must turn to him with all one's heart and all one's 
soul, 4 love him, serve him, obey him, fulfil his com- 
mands with all one's heart and all one's soul; 5 finally, 
his faithfulness deserves the gratitude of the whole 
heart and the whole soul. 6 Sorrows and anxieties alike 
find room in the soul and in the heart. 7 The soul is 
puffed up as well as the heart. 8 

There are some special features in which the heart 
resembles the spirit. The spirit and the heart may 
both err. 9 Lack of courage is a fault not only of the 
heart, but also of the spirit. 10 Contention and humility 
affect both the heart and the spirit; 11 it is the same 
with sadness, dejection, internal agitation, 12 as well as 
fear. 13 

Man should renew his heart and his spirit. 14 God 
can and will give him a new heart and a new spirit. 15 
Reflection takes place in the heart, but the spirit also 
meditates. 16 

I Deut. iv. 0. 2 Deut. xi. 18. 3 Dent. iv. 29. 4 Deut. xxx. 10. 
5 Deut. vi. 5 ; x. 12 ; xi. 13 ; xiii. 3 ; xxvi. 10 ; xxx. 2 ; Josh. xxii. 5. 
c Josh, xxiii. 14. " Ps. xiii. 2. 

8 Comp. Prov. xxviii. 25 with xxi. 4, and Ps. ci. 5. 

9 Isa. xxix. 24 ; Ps. xcv. 10. 10 Josh. ii. 11 ; v. 1. 

II Ps. xxxiv. 18 ; li. 17 ; Isa. lvii. 15. 

12 Isa. lxv. 14 ; Ps. cxliii. 4 ; Prov. xv. 3. 18 Ezek. xxi. 7. 

14 Ezek. xviii. 31. 15 Ezek. xxxvi. 20 ; xi. 19 ; Ps. li. 10. 

10 Ps. lxxvii. 0. 



164 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

It must have been noticed that we have brought for- 
ward almost exclusively passages in which the heart is 
mentioned as synonymous with, or as playing the same 
part as, the soul or the spirit. This parallelism might 
be carried farther if we cared to take into account all 
the passages in which there is a reference to either of 
the three alone. Any one who undertook this task 
would find that all the affections and all the functions 
of our spiritual being are referred in turn to all of 
them. Each appears as the organ and the seat of all 
the faculties of the soul, feeling, will, intelligence, 
as well as of moral and religious life. There is, there- 
fore, no essential difference among them, and it is an 
error to suppose, with Beck 1 and Delitzsch, 2 that the 
Old Testament attaches to each of these three terms a 
peculiar signification, that it contains a psychological 
system with a perfectly definite terminology. We must, 
on the contraiy, with Harless 3 and Hofmann, 4 ac- 
knowledge that the Bible no more contains a scientific 
psychology than a scientific cosmology. Schultz shares 
this view. After having shown that in certain passages 
the expression "my soul" may alternate with "my 
flesh" or "my bones" when the ego as a sensitive per- 
sonality is meant, 5 he reaches the conclusion that in 
this regard the Old Testament freely emplo}'s the pop- 
ular words of expression ; that all that can confidently 
be asserted is that the Scriptures distinguish between 
the corporeal substratum and the life that reveals itself 
therein ; that this life is called spirit, when the object 

1 Umriss derbibl. Seelenlehre. 2 System of Biblical Psychology. 
3 Ghristl. EthiTc, 5 ed. p. xiii. 4 Theologie, I. pp. 284 f. 

5 Ps. vi. 2 f. ; xvi. ; xxxii. 3 ; xxxv. 10 ; lxiii. 1 ; lxxxiv. 2. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 13. THE NATURE OF MAN. 165 

is to emphasize its relations with God, and soul or heart 
when the stress is on personal life; that in elevated 
discourse these terms are often used one for another, 
or in the same connection as complements of one an- 
other. 1 We must certainly admit that on this subject, 
as on so many others, the authors of the Old Testament 
used popular language and not that of the schools; 
that they spoke of the human soul, spirit, and heart as 
we ourselves often speak of them, i.e. including under 
each of these terms our entire spiritual being, with all 
its faculties. 

There exist, however, some distinctions among these 
terms. Thus nepliesh is sometimes synonymous with 
person, individual, like the word soul in French and 
German. 2 In the latter sense it may even denote dead 
persons. 3 It may also take the place of the personal 
pronoun; in which case my soul, thy soul, his soul, 
means myself, thyself, himself, or one's self. 4 Neither 
spirit nor heart is used in this sense. It is therefore 
soal that seems to denote more particularly man's per- 
sonality, his ego. Man is a soul, he is not a spirit or 
a heart; he has a spirit and a heart. 5 The soul is the 
nobler part, the glory of man. 6 

On the other hand, it is the heart that is almost ex- 
clusively the organ of thought, intelligence, knowledge. 

i II. pp. 240 ff. 

2 Gen. xii. 5; xvii. 14 ; xlvi. 15, 18, 22, 25-27; Ex. i. 5; xii. 19; 
xvi. 16 ; Lev. ii. 1 ; iv. 2, 27 ; etc. 

3 Lev. xix. 28; xxi. 1, 11; xxii. 4; Num. v. 2; vi. G, 11; ix. 
6 £., 10. 

4 Gen. xxvii. 4, 10, 25 ; Jud. xvi. 30 ; 1 Sam. xviii. «°> ; xx. 17. 
s Comp. Oehler, § 70. 

6 Gen. xlix. 6 ; Ps. vii. 5 ; xvi. 9 ; lvii. 8 ; cviii. 1. 



166 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

There are only a few passages in which the soul and 
the spirit perform the functions of intelligence. 1 The 
heart is, moreover, the moral and religious faculty par 
excellence. It is represented as the organ of moral con- 
sciousness 2 and as the source of life in the sense of 
happiness and salvation. 3 But it also appears as the 
chief source of sin. 4 It must needs be circumcised 5 
because it is uncircumcised. 6 The law of God must be 
graven on it. 7 It is that of which God takes most 
account in judging of man's true character. 8 God 
sounds it and he alone knows it. 9 

Often also the reins are placed in parallelism with 
the heart, denoting the most private, secret recess of 
man's spiritual nature. 10 The various terms that denote 
the bowels are found used in almost the same sense, but 
with the added idea of compassion. 11 On the other hand, 
the head and the brain, which play so important a part 
as the seat of thought among moderns, are not men- 
tioned in this sense in the early literature of Israel. 
It is the late book of Daniel that speaks of " visions of 
the head," 12 while Jeremiah, conforming to the lan- 

1 Josh, xxiii. 14 ; Ps. cxxxix. 14 ; Prov. xix. 2 ; 1 Chron. xxviii. 12 ; 
Job xxxii. 8. 2 Job xxvii. 6. 3 Prov. iv. 23 ; comp. xxiii. 26. 

4 Gen. vi. 5 ; viii. 21 ; Jer. iii. 17 ; v. 23 ; xvi. 12 ; Ezek. xi. 21 ; 
Eccl. viii. 11 ; ix. 3 ; Ps. v. 9 ; xcv. 10; ci. 4 ; etc. 

5 Deut. x. 16 ; xxx. 6. 6 Lev. xxvi. 41 ; Ezek. xliv. 9. 
7 Deut. vi. 6 ; Jer. xxxi. 33. 8 1 Sam. xvi. 7. 

9 1 Kings viii. 39 ; Prov. xvii. 3 ; Ps. xvii. 3. 

10 Jer. xi. 20 ; xvii. 10 ; xx. 12 ; Ps. vii. 9 ; xvi. 7 ; xxvi. 2 ; lxxiii. 
21 ; Prov. xxiii. 15 f. ; Job xix. 27. 

11 Gen. xliii. 30 ; 1 Kings iii. 26 ; Amos i. 11 ; Isa. xvi. 11 ; xlvii. 6 ; 
Lam. i. 20; Job xxx. 27 ; Prov. xii. 10 ; xx. 27 ; Ps. xxxix. 3 ; xl. 8 ; 
lxiv. 6 ; ciii. 1 ; cix. 22. 

i 2 ii. 28 ; iv. 5, 10, 13 ; vii. 1, 15. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 14. THE DIGNITY OF MAN. 167 

guage of the early Hebrews, says : " The visions of the 
heart." 1 

It has been supposed that the idea of the pre-exist- 
ence of the soul is discoverable in certain passages of 
the Old Testament; 2 this is not the case. 3 It is found 
only in an apocryphal book. 4 The older account of 
creation teaches the contrary; according to it man's 
body was first formed and the soul was afterward im- 
parted to it. 5 And, according to document C, God 
created man in his own image, 6 i.e. body and soul at 
the same time, and established the law of reproduction 
for man as well as for animals. 7 Adam is thus enabled 
to beget a son in his own image, 8 body and soul. 



§ 14. THE DIGNITY OF MAN. 

The accounts of creation themselves emphasize the 
exceptional dignity of man. In the older of these 
accounts we see God giving especial care to the crea- 
tion of human beings. 9 The way in which he breathes 
the breath of life into the nostrils of Adam seems to 
establish a peculiar relation between his life and that 
of man. We have seen above that the Old Testament 
sometimes puts men and animals into the same category, 
applying to them indiscriminately the designation "all 
flesh," and attributing to both the nephesh and the 
ruach; this account, on the contrary, establishes an 

1 xxiii. 16. 2 1 Sam. ii. ; Job i. 21 ; Ps. exxxix. 15. 

"• De Wcttc, § 1 15, Archeologie; von Colin, Theologie, § 40 ; Oehler, 
§ 70; Schultz, II. pp. 250 IT. '» Wis. viii. 1!) f. 

6 Gen. ii. 7. ,; Gen. i. 26 f. ' Gen. i. 2! 

h Gen. v. 3. :i Gen. ii. 7, 21 f. 



168 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

essential distinction between them, exalting man far 
above the animals and all other created tilings. God, 
after the creation of man, planted the garden of Eden, 
that he might till and tend it. 1 It is man also for whom 
the animals were created, and they were brought to him 
that he might give them names. 2 In the chapters that 
immediately follow, the animal and the vegetable king- 
dom are both made subject to man. 3 But among the 
animals, man finds no helpmeet for him. 4 Then God 
creates woman, taking her from man, in order that she 
may be a help like him. 5 

Man and. woman, then, occupy an exceptional and 
peculiarly exalted position in the work of creation ; all 
else is only for them, for their use. However, in con- 
formity to the universal sentiment of antiquity, the 
position of man is even more exalted than that of 
woman. Woman was created only for the sake of man, 
to be a help to him, 6 and she is taken from him. All 
this indicates a kind of inferiority, a kind of depend- 
ence of woman over against man. The distance that 
separates the one from the other, however, should not 
be exaggerated. In v. 24 of our narrative, we see that 
man must place above all other ties those that unite 
him to his wife, and that after their union they form 
one flesh. At the same time, therefore, with the su- 
premacy of man and the subordination of woman, their 
equality in certain respects is also recognized. 

The account of creation in document C, 7 dating from 
a time when Israel itish thought was further developed, 
presents the same ideas, but in a new form and with a 

1 Gen. ii. 8-15. 2 Gen. ii. 10 f. 3 Gen. iii. 21 ; iv. 3 f. 

4 Gen- ii. 20. 5 Gen. ii. 21-23. 6 Gen. ii. 18, 20. ' Gen. i. 



SECOND PERIOD. § 14. THE DIGNITY OF MAN. 169 

more philosophic cast. Here the first human pair is 
not created until after all the rest. This, no doubt, is 
meant to indicate that, to the thought of the author, 
man is the end and crown of the work of creation, that 
he is its lord and master, and that he should not appear 
upon the scene until all else is ready and can be placed 
at his service. As soon as man is created he is called 
to rule over all other terrestrial creatures; the plants 
also, it is said, are to serve him for food. 1 The expres- 
sion in v. 26, "And God said: Let us make man," 
indicates a special determination, and as it were a solemn 
act on the part of God. This creative act is therefore 
not like the others introduced by the simple expression : 
"God said." Verses 26 f. declare, besides, that God 
created man in his own image and after his own like- 
ness. It is clear that this account emphasizes and 
specifies the peculiar dignity of man and his superiority 
over the rest of creation. Here, however, there is no 
trace of inequality between woman and man. They 
are both formed by the same creative act; they are both 
like God. Besides this difference between documents 
A and C, it should be noted that, according to the 
former, man did not originally resemble God, and was 
not intended to be like him; on the contrary, he became 
guilty and brought upon himself the ills of life by wish- 
ing to become like God, and like him to know how to 
distinguish between good and evil. 2 The older docu- 
ment does not, therefore, attribute to man so exalted 
a dignity as the other. 

In precisely what consists the image of God in man? 
Theology has read many things into this expression. 
1 Gen. i. 28 f. 2 Sec Gen. iii. and § 10. 



170 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

In the first place it lias distinguished between the image 
of God and his likeness. This is a serious error. Though 
in v. 26 there is reference to the image and the likeness 
of God, in v. 27 it is only the former to which refer- 
ence is made, which seems to indicate that the two 
terms are synonymous. The use of both in v. 26 is 
probably only an illustration of the law of parallelism, 
which plays an important part in the elevated style of 
Hebrew literature. According to Oehler the second 
term serves only to reinforce the first ; 1 others find this 
sole difference between the two, that the first is concrete 
and the second abstract. 2 

In early Protestant theology the image of God in man 
was the state of moral perfection that was lost by the 
fall. This is incorrect ; the document that mentions the 
fall does not speak of this image, and vice versa. Ac- 
cording to document C, which alone speaks of it, this 
image is preserved despite the corruption that causes 
the deluge. 3 If we allow ourselves to be guided by the 
context, we see that the resemblance of man to God 
consists chiefly in dominion over all things, and espe- 
cially over the animals. For it is said: "Let us make 
man in our image, after our likeness, and let him rule 
over the fish of the sea, over the birds of heaven, 
over the beasts, over all the earth, and over all the rep- 
tiles that crawl on the earth." Ps. viii. also makes 
this superiority of man, that allies him to divinity, con- 
sist in dominion over all the works of God, and espe- 
cially over the animals. 4 Havernick, 5 Oehler, 6 and 

1 § 68. 2 Sclmltz, II. pp. 257 f. ; Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, I. 
p. 287. 3 Gen. ix. 6 ; comp. v. 3. 

4 vv. 0-9. 5 Theologie, p. 90. 6 § 08. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 14. THE DIGNITY OF MAN. 171 

Schultz, 1 however, combat the idea that the resem- 
blance of man to God consists in such dominion, be- 
cause, they say, it is only the consequence of the 
superiority of man, and not this superiority itself. This 
distinction is very just; but was it made by the author 
of document C, or by that of Ps. viii. ? Nothing 
indicates that this is the case or renders such a sup- 
position tenable. We have seen, on the contrary, 
that the early Israelites were little inclined to subtle 
distinctions. 

It is easy to understand why, in Israel, the superior- 
ity of man and his resemblance to God were made to 
consist, above all, in ruling ability. Be it remembered 
that of all the attributes of God, that which the Old 
Testament extols most persistently is his controlling 
might. It is, therefore, at once simple and natural that, 
in speaking of the resemblance of man to God, it should 
be made to consist in the divine perfection par excel- 
lence, the feature of divinity from the Israelitish stand- 
point most characteristic of it; in other words, that there 
should be attributed to man as the mark of his superi- 
ority the ability to rule like God, the supreme ruler. 
But though the most salient attribute of God was taken 
as a point of comparison, this does not mean that the 
divine perfections in general did not find subordinate 
consideration. This also, from the standpoint of the 
Old Testament, is very natural. We have seen that the 
Israelites pictured to themselves God in the human 
form. Hence they would necessarily think that, in 
creating man, God exactly copied himself, that he cre- 
ated him exactly in his own image. And since they 

1 II. p. 257. 



172 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

certainly gave God a body, and did not regard him as 
a pure spirit, they probably thought that man resembled 
God, and God man, both corporeally and spiritually. 1 

It is therefore a false interpretation of Gen. i. 26, 
that claims to find in it the assertion of the moral per- 
fection of man. What ought to have made this clear is 
the fact that after the fall and the corruption of morals 
that appears at the time of the deluge, document C con- 
tinues to predicate of man resemblance to God. 2 Gen. 
i. 31, it is true, implies the thought that man was 
created good; but he is simply regarded as good in the 
same sense as the other creatures; i.e. inasmuch as, by 
the creative act, he has received the corporeal and spir- 
itual qualities necessary for the realization of the idea 
of man. 3 There is no reference in this passage to moral 
perfection. 

What we have just said does not amount to a denial 
that the moral supremacy of man is taught in the Old 
Testament. It only shows that the classic passages 
quoted in favor of the doctrine of the moral perfection 
of man leave his moral nature entirely in the back- 
ground. But having once established this, we abide by 
the assertion that the Old Testament insists on our 
moral dignity. Only, instead of seeking the proof of 
this assertion in an expression that in reality does not 
contain it, and that occurs only twice in a single doc- 
ument in the entire literature of the Hebrews, we be- 



1 Comp. Schoeberlein, Schaff-Herzog's Cyclopedia, art. Image of 
God; Reuss, Hist. Sainte, I. p. 282. 

2 Gen. v. 3 ; ix. 6. 

3 Schultz, II. p. 2G2 ; Miiller, Christian Doctrine of Sin, II. pp. 
349 f. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 15. FAITHFULNESS. 173 

lieve that we find it taught in this literature as a whole. 
Not that it is often explicitly asserted; it is rather 
everywhere taken for granted. What is implied by 
the fundamental idea of the religion of Israel, the cov- 
enant of God with man ? What is presupposed by the 
legal regime, which gives man the choice between good 
and evil, blessing and cursing, life and death? Doubt- 
less it is something different from that which tradi- 
tional theology claims to find in the Hebrew canon 
touching the moral dignity of man, a state of original 
but temporary perfection which was soon totally for- 
feited. But the principal fault of this theology is that 
it has found in the Bible precisely what it does not con- 
tain and has not been able to discover what is clearly 
taught therein. We must, however, devote a special 
chapter to the further discussion of the great subject of 
the fall, to which we have here alluded. 



§ 15. FAITHFULNESS TO JEHOVAH. 

Having learned to know God and man according to 
the conceptions current in Israel, we must now see Avhat 
God requires of man. 

Jehovah is a God whose nature it is to be faithful to 
his- people; but he requires in return that his people 
shall also be faithful to him. Faithfulness to Jehovah 
is the cardinal virtue in Israel. This appears every- 
where in the Old Testament, in the historical, the 
prophetical, the legal, and the didactic portions. Every- 
where and in all the forms of language, the sacred 
writers teach Israel that they are to serve their God, 
that they are to serve him alone, and serve him in all 



174 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

faithfulness. But how was this faithfulness conceived? 
upon what sentiments was it to rest? and in what way 
was it to be translated into life ? 

The essential mark of faithfulness and the moral life 
in Israel is obedience to God. The old covenant is the 
regime of law ; God commands and man is to obey ; he 
is to obey God even in the least details of life, since 
the legislation of each of the documents of the Penta- 
teuch undertakes the regulation of these details. The 
people Israel, as regards Jehovah, occupj^ the position 
of a subject toward his master, a son toward his father, 
a wife toward her husband, a servant toward his mas- 
ter or lord; 1 now each of these positions implies chiefly 
obedience toward God. The Old Testament knows no 
morality but religious morality, according to which the 
virtue of any act consists in the fulfilment of the will 
of God. In Israel the moral life and the religious life 
are inclissolubly united. 

The faithful fulfilment of the commands of God is 
generally designated in the Old Testament by the term 
righteousness, 2 which we might render normalcy of con- 
duct. The faithful Israelite is everywhere represented 
as a righteous person. Since Israelitish piety was in 
a way identified with the observance of the commands 
of God, or righteousness, this last term is often synony- 
mous with piety. In the Psalms especially the right- 
eous are frequently contrasted with the wicked; they 
are the pious men in Israel. 

Israelitish virtue, righteousness, piety, since they 
consisted essentially in the observance of the commands 
of God, were very external ; first, because the law was 
1 See S 4. 2 Deut. vi. 25 ; Ezek. xviii. 5-9 ; etc. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 15. FAITHFULNESS. 175 

always composed largely of ritualistic regulations, 
which indeed, in document C, completely predominate, 
and, secondly, because this law was imposed from with- 
out. Righteousness and morality in Israel are in great 
measure simply legality. Moreover, the principal 
motive to righteousness and faithfulness is external 
and selfish; viz. promises of earthly blessings in case of 
faithfulness, and threats of earthly penalties in case of 
unfaithfulness, as we shall see later. 

Internal tendencies, however, the sentiments of the 
heart, which shall result in faithfulness, are not lost 
sight of. Deuteronomy, for example, requires that the 
law of God be taken to heart, and that it remain in 
the heart; 1 that God be sought and served with all the 
heart and all the soul ; 2 and above all, that he be feared 
and loved with all the heart and all the soul. 3 Out- 
side of this book the fear of God is often enjoined as the 
fundamental principle of piety and the principal motive 
to faithfulness, to righteousness. 4 This sentiment, 
which dominates Israelitish piety and virtue, is, in fact, 
of inferior value. It is found in intimate connection 
with the idea that Jehovah is first of all a mighty God, 
just and holy, who will not let evil go unpunished. 
Hence the numerous threats of punishment, directed 
against unfaithfulness, in the law and the prophets. 
But, alongside of this sentiment, Ave find also in Deuter- 
onomy — not however, it is true, in so many passages — 

1 vi. ; xi. 18. 2 iv. 29 ; xxvi. 10 ; xxviii. 47; xxx. 2, 10. 

»iv. 10; v. 20; vi. 2, 5, 1:), 24 ; viii. 0; x. 12. 21); xi. 1, 13, 22; 
xiii. 3 f. ; xiv. 23; xvii. 10; xix. 0; xxviii. 58; xxx. 0, 10, 20 ; xxxi. 
12 f. 

'• Gen. xxii. 12 ; 1 Sam. xii. 21 ; Job i. 1, 8; ii. 3 ; Eccl. xii. 15 ; etc. 



176 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the sentiment of love in God. In the Old Testament, 
in general, there is more frequent reference to the 
holiness and the righteousness of God than to his love, 
and the Israelites are more frequently exhorted therein 
to fear Jehovah than to love him. The idea formed 
of God and the sentiments felt toward him are indeed 
closely related to one another. In some passages be- 
sides these in Deuteronomy, and even in one place in 
document A, love to God is expressly represented as 
a fundamental sentiment of piety. 1 This sentiment 
doubtless existed in Israel more generally than at first 
appears, and it was the same with gratitude toward 
God. The Israelites always referred to God the bless- 
ings that they enjoyed, and expressed to him their 
gratitude for them. This appears even in the song of 
Deborah, Jud. v., and in that which celebrates the de- 
liverance from Egyptian slavery, Ex. xv. We see it 
later in the numerous psalms of thanksgiving that date 
from all periods of the history of Israel. A people that 
always celebrated thus the blessings of God and sang 
his praises experienced a high degree of gratitude 
toward God and love for him. It is the sentiment of 
gratitude to which document A so early appeals to in- 
duce Israel faithfully to observe the covenant and the 
law of God. 2 But Deuteronomy most of all seeks to 
awaken this sentiment, a sentiment which shall result 
in faithfulness toward God, through the remembrance 
of his blessings, 3 and his love, 4 the source of his bless- 

1 Ex. xx. 6 ; Isa. lvi. G ; lviii. 14 ; Dan. ix. 5 ; Ps. xviii. 1 ; xxxi. 23 ; 
xxxvii. 4 ; xcvii. 10 ; cxlv. 20. 2 Ex. xix. 4 ff. ; xx. 2 ff. 

3 i. 31 ; iv. 32 ff. ; vi. 20 ff. ; viii. 6 ff. ; x. 20 ff. ; xi. 1 ff. ; xxix. 2 ff., 
9 ff. 4 iv. 37 ; vii. 8 ; x. 15 ; xxiii. 5. 



SECOND PERIOD. § 15. FAITHFULNESS. 177 

ings. It is the same with the legal fragment, Lev. 
xvii. -xxvi. These laws often add to the other- motives 
for faithfulness this, that the commands which are to 
be fulfilled come from Jehovah. 1 Sometimes the more 
complete formula is : "I am Jehovah your God." 2 This, 
without doubt, means that these laws emanate from 
the true God who can oversee the fulfilment of them, 
and render to each one according to his works. But 
the expression "your God " may also imply the idea that 
Jehovah is the master, the lord, the ruler of Israel, and 
has the right to command his people and require of them 
obedience. 3 Finally, it may signify this: I am your 
benefactor, your protector, and your saviour; }T>u owe 
me faithful obedience out of gratitude for the blessings 
that I have granted you, and especially for deliverance 
from Egyptian slavery, that first and peculiarly remark- 
able blessing. 4 

If love for God and gratitude to him should produce 
obedience toward God, love for one's neighbor should 
result in the faithful fulfilment of one's duties toward 
that neighbor. Such love is also enjoined in the Old 
Testament, but more rarely. 5 It may be presupposed in 
many cases like love to God himself. Yet it is more 
correct to say that the Hebrew, who emphasizes the 
absolute sovereignty of God and represents rules of con- 
duct as emanating directly from him, generally leaves 
in the background secondary motives to faithfulness, 

i Lev. xviii. 5 f., 21 ; xix. 12, 14, 1G, 28, 30, 32, 37 ; xx. 8 ; xxi. 12 ; 
xxii. 2 f. ; viii. 30 f. ; xxvi. 2. 

' 2 Lev. xviii. 4, 30 ; xix. 2 f., 10, 25, 31, 34, 30 ; etc. 

3 Lev. xxv. r,r K 4 Lev. xix. 36 f. ; xxii. 32 f. ; xxv. 38. 

• r - Lev. xix. IS, .",1 ; Deal. x. 10; Hos. iv. 1 ; Mic. vi. 8; Zech. vii. 
9 ; l'rov. x. 12 ; xvi. 0. 



178 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

and brings to the front only this prime reason, that God 
has spoken, and man owes him obedience, in all things. 
From the Israelitish point of view man should fulfil 
his duties to his neighbor, as all others, because God 
commands it. It appears from the foregoing that 
knowledge of God and faith in God are essential ele- 
ments of piety, of the moral and religious life of Israel. 
It was, of course, necessary to have a knowledge of the 
holiness, the righteousness, and the judgments of God, 
as well as of his love and his blessings, and it was 
necessary to believe, in order to be moved to fear and 
love for God, to gratitude to him, and in consequence 
to the faithful fulfilment of his will. Knowledge of 
God is often presupposed, but frequently also enjoined 
in the Old Testament, as an essential qualification of 
the true Israelite. 1 It is the same with faith in God. 2 
Unbelief is strongly censured and severely punished. 3 



§ 16. WOKSHIP. 

The fact most deserving attention is the strict cen- 
tralization of worship, which was attained in our period 
and which is the fundamental doctrine of Deuteronomy. 

We have seen that, in ancient times, the Israelites 
could rear altars and offer sacrifices in any place, that 

1 Hos. iv. 1,6; v. 4 ; vi. 3, 6 ; Isa. xi. 9 ; xix. 21 ; lii. 6 ; Jer. ix. 
24 ; xxii. 16 ; xxiv. 7 ; xxxi. 34 ; etc. 

2 Gen. xv. 6 ; Hos. ii. 7 ; Mic. vii. 7 ; Neh. i. 7 ; Zeph. iii. 12 ; Jer. 
xiv. 22 ; xvii. 7 ; xxxix. 18 ; Isa. vii. 9 ; viii. 17 ; x. 20 ; xii. 2 ; xxv. 
9 ; xxvi. 3 f., 8 ; xxviii. 16 ; xxx. 15, 18 ; xl. 31 ; xliii. 10 ; etc. 

3 Num. xx. 7-12 ; Isa. xxx. 1 ff. ; xxxi. 1 ff. ; Jer. ii. 17-19, 36 f. ; 
xvii. 5 f. ; Deut. i. 32 ff. ; ix. 23 ; 2 Kings vii. 14 ; Ps. lxxxix. 18- 
21, 31. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 16. WORSHIP. 179 

a multiplicity of places of worship was perfectly admis- 
sible, but that, nevertheless, the ark of the covenant 
was already a rallying-point and a means of religious 
centralization for all Israel. What afterward contrib- 
uted to such centralization was the erection of the 
temple at Jerusalem. It is easy to understand that 
this royal and central temple, with its stately worship, 
would, little by little, eclipse all the other sanctuaries. 
The worship of the high-places, however, continued yet 
a long time, alongside of the worship at Jerusalem. 
Other circumstances were necessary to produce in this 
respect a radical reform. The event that unquestiona- 
bly exercised the greatest influence in this direction 
was the overthrow of the kingdom of the ten tribes. 
From that moment the people Israel found themselves 
reduced almost to the single tribe of Juclah, surround- 
ing Jerusalem and its temple. Moreover, the multi- 
plicity of places of worship had given rise to a multi- 
plicity of gods ; the high-places served not only for the 
worship of Jehovah, they had become seats of idolatry. 1 
This fact furnished a stronger reason for opposing the 
worship of high-places. This is what Hezekiah under- 
took to do. 2 Nothing indicates, however, that his 
efforts Avere crowned with success. It was different 
after the discovery of Deuteronomy, or the legal part 
of it, which distinctly identifies the worship of high- 
places with idolatry and for the first time requires a 
strict centralization of worship. 8 

1 Jer. vii. 20 ff. ; xvii. 2 ; xix. 6 ; Ezek. vi. :) If., 13 ; xx. 28 ff. ; Lev. 
xxvi. 30 ; 1 Kings xi. 7; xiv. 2:5; 2 Kings xvii. It'.; xviii. 4; xxi. 
3 ff. ; xxiii. ">, 1.']. - 2 Kings xviii. 4. 

■■'■ Chap. xii. ; xiv. 22 ff. ; xv. 20; xvi. 2, 5 ff., 11, 15; xvii. 8 If. ; 
xviii. G ; xxvi. 2. 



180 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

This legislation led Josiah to proceed to the reform 
of worship, an account of which is found 2 Kings xxiii. 
It is this legislation also under the influence of which 
the editor of the books of Kings, after having consci- 
entiously recounted how, until the time of Hezekiah, 
the most faithful kings offered sacrifices on the high- 
places, feels the need of repeatedly expressing his regret 
that it had been so. 1 Idolatry, however, once more 
uplifted its head after Josiah; for we read that his suc- 
cessors did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, 2 
which certainly means that they devoted themselves to 
unlawful worship and to idolatry. Jeremiah and Eze- 
kiel reproach Israel with their idolatry, past and pres- 
ent, more than any of the other prophets. Lev. xvii. 
also, which was written during or a little after the 
Exile, reinforces the Deuteronomic legislation respect- 
ing the centralization of worship. This chapter forbids 
under pain of death, not only the offering of sacrifices, 
but even the slaughtering of animals for ordinary use, 
elsewhere than at the laAvful sanctuary. Though regu- 
lations of this sort favored Jewish Levitism beyond 
measure, they were justified by the circumstances that 
provoked them ; for they were directed against idolatry, 
which seemed indestructible, and against which it was 
necessary finally to take serious precautions and direct 
the most energetic measures. 

The death-blow was not, however, given to idolatry 
and the worship at the high-places until the grand 
catastrophe of the Exile. Not until after the return 
from captivity was the absolute centralization of wor- 

1 1 Kings iii. 2 f. ; xv. 14 ; xxii. 44 ; 2 Kings xii. 3 ; xiv. 4 ; xv. 4, 
35 ; xvi. 4. 2 2 Kings xxiii. 32, 37 ; xxiv. 9, 19. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 16. WORSHIP. 181 

ship put into practice in a decisive fashion among the 
Jewish people. The circumstances were then peculiarly 
favorable. The Jews, returned to their country, were 
few in number; they were, therefore, able to cluster 
more closely about Jerusalem and its restored temple. 
The Exile had, moreover, caused an interruption of at 
least half a century in traditional usages, and it was 
represented by the prophets as the consequence and just 
penalty of long-continued idolatry. 

With the necessity of a strict centralization of wor- 
ship arose that of a centralization of the sacerdotal 
functions. This was likewise for the first time ordained 
in Deuteronomy, being itself also inspired by the desire 
to put an end to idolatry and to the abuses to which the 
freedom of early times had given occasion. 

While formerly every father of a family had the right 
to fulfil the sacerdotal functions, and those who devoted 
themselves exclusively to these functions could be taken 
from it mattered not what tribe, Deuteronomy assigns 
the priesthood to the tribe of Levi alone ; it excludes, 
therefore, any one who does not belong to this tribe ; 
according to it all the sons of Levi are consecrated to 
the priesthood, and every priest should belong to the 
tribe of Levi, or be a Levitical priest. 1 It is evident 
that Levitical priests are contrasted with priests taken 
indiscriminately from the mass of the people. 2 

Comparing verse 25 with verse 9 of chapter xxi., wo 
are convinced beyond a perad venture that in this book 
the term Levite is synonymous with Levitical priest. 
It is the same with Jer. xxxiii. 18, 21 f. This language 



■fc>""t>' 



1 xvii. 9, 18 ; xviii. 1 ; xxi. 5 ; xxiv. 8 ; xxvii. ; xxxi. !). 
-' 1 Kings xii. •']! ; xiii. 33 ; 2. Kings xvii. 32, 



182 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

respecting the Levitical priests continues to be used b}' 
the prophets of the Exile 1 and even into Chronicles. 2 
In fact, as we shall see farther on, the distinction be- 
tween the priests and the Levites did not begin to be 
made until during and after the Exile. 

According to Deuteronomy all the Levites are priests ; 
moreover, they are all priests of the same rank. There 
is to be found in it no more trace of a sacerdotal hier- 
archy such as that with which we later become ac- 
quainted, than in the most ancient documents. Before 
the Exile, the distinction between priests and Levites 
being entirely ignored, the term Levite was the hono- 
rary title of the priest. In all the ancient literature we 
find only two passages that indicate a different stand- 
point; they are 2 Sam. xv. 24 and 1 Kings viii. 4; but 
a comparison of 2 Chron. v. 5 with the second of these 
passages clearly proves that these two passages have 
been modified in accordance with the later standpoint. 3 
In fact, the entire sacerdotal hierarchy as it existed 
before the Exile and after the time of King Joash con- 
sisted of a high-priest and subordinate priests with 
door-keepers to the temple, 4 which last, however, were 
also priests. 5 From ancient times there were perhaps 
a head-priest and subordinate employes at each of the 
various places of worship of any importance. It is 
probable that the kings, who, after the time of David, 
had the upper hand in affairs ecclesiastical, for the 

1 Ezek. xliii. 19 ; xliv. 15 ; Isa. lxvi. 21. 

2 2 Chron. v. 5 ; xxiii. 18 ; xxx. 27. 

3 Wellhausen, History, pp. 43, 141 f. 

4 2 Kings xii. 10 ; xxii. 4, 8 ; xxiii. 4 ; xxv. 18 ; comp. Jer. lii. 24 ; 
xx. 1 ; xxix. 2G. 6 2 Kings xii. 9. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 16. WORSHIP. 183 

better conduct of the service of God established a kind 
of sacerdotal hierarchy at Jerusalem. But such an 
organization does not resemble the sacerdotal hierarchy 
of document C, to which we shall refer hereafter; it 
cannot have had any religious value or have been re- 
garded as emanating from God, otherwise the silence 
observed by Deuteronomy and Ezekiel on the subject of 
the sovereign pontificate, though they are relatively 
explicit with reference to the priesthood, could not well 
be explained. Not until after the Exile, when the king, 
heretofore the summus ejiiscopus in Israel, had disap- 
peared, did the high-priest begin to play a considerable 
part. 1 

Except in the two respects of which we have just 
spoken, our period presents nothing worthy of especial 
attention concerning worship. We must, however, 
describe the attitude of the prophets with regard to the 
traditional institutions and ceremonies of their relig- 
ion. This attitude is not hostile, as has been claimed. 
The truth is, rather, that the prophets, without despising 
external worship, ascribed to the religious and moral 
life the balance of importance. As Oehler very justly 
observes, "the program of prophetism " is indicated, 
1 Sam. xv. 22, in these words : " Obedience is of more 
value than sacrifices, and observance of the word of 
Jehovah than the fat of rams." This program is de- 
veloped in a series of passages 2 in which the prophets 
place above religious ceremonies, feasts, sacrifices, fasts, 

1 Hag. i. 1, ]'2 ; ii. 2, 4 ; Zech. iii. 1 IT. ; vi. 11 ff. 

2 Amos v. 21-24 ; Hos. iv. 1 ff. ; vi. 6 ; Mic. vi. G-8 ; Isa. i. 11-17 ; 
lviii. 3 ff. ; Jer. vi. 10 f. ; vii. 1 ff., ff., 21 ff. ; Zech. vii. 4-10 ; Ps. xl. 
ff.; 1. 7 ff., 10 ff. 



184 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

etc., the knowledge of God, honesty, righteousness, 
charity, or amendment in heart and life after unfaith- 
fulness. 

Jer. vii. 22 f. is a classic passage as regards the ques- 
tion under discussion. The prophet there declares that 
Jehovah gave the fathers no command on the subject 
of burnt offerings and sacrifices, that he simply com- 
manded them to walk in all his ways. In other words, 
the sacrifices are not of divine institution, only the 
moral regulations. This agrees with 1 Sam. xv. 22, 
where obedience and observance of the word of Jeho- 
vah are contrasted with sacrifices, which, consequently, 
are not based on the word, the command, the initiative, 
of God. 1 The prophets never see in the neglect of any 
ceremony anything blameworthy; it is only transgres- 
sion of the moral law and idolatry that they condemn. 
To rites in themselves they ascribe comparatively little 
value; for them the important thing is that every 
act of worship be performed exclusively in honor of 
Jehovah. 

We see, however, in Jeremiah for instance, that 
though the prophets placed the moral above the cere- 
monial law, they did not mean to reject or abolish 
the latter. Jeremiah promises that the sacrifices and 
the priesthood shall never fail in Israel, even under the 
reign of the Messiah. 2 The prophets, then, simply 
oppose the abuse of rites, and not the rites themselves ; 
they try to teach that external rites cannot take the 
place of sentiments and acts of faithfulness toward God 
and one's fellows. 

1 Comp. Hos. vi. 6 ; Isa. i. 11 ff. ; xxix. 13 ; Mic. vi. 6-8. 

2 Jer. xxxiii. 18 ; xvii. 26. 



SECOND PERIOD. § 17. ESSENCE OF SIN. 185 

That proplietism before the Exile, so far from com- 
pletely rejecting external worship, ascribed to it a 
degree of value, is, moreover, proven from Deuteron- 
omy, which, though written under its influence, finds 
plenty of room for all that concerns worship, the place 
of worship, the priesthood, the religious feasts, Leviti- 
cal purity, and other subjects of the same nature. 

What we have said, therefore, applies more especially 
to the earlier prophets up to the time of Jeremiah. 
In the next period we shall see that, beginning with 
Ezekiel, external worship gained so much in impor- 
tance that the prophets themselves yielded, in respect 
to it, to the influence of Levitism, which finally degen- 
erated more and more into formalism and Pharisaism. 



§ 17. ISRAEL'S UNFAITHFULNESS AND THE ESSENCE 

OF SIN. 

We come noAV to the subject of sin. We should, 
however, proceed in a manner contrary to the spirit of 
the Old Testament and especially of prophetism, if we 
began by treating this subject from a purely abstract 
standpoint. Here, again, the prophots avoided all spec- 
ulation. They set out from concrete facts ; they allowed 
themselves to be guided by experience; and they had. 
in view only a practical end. Nearly all the prophets 
begin by reproaching their people with numerous 
I (reaches of faithfulness, to which they attach the threat 
of severe punishments. 

We shall not, of course, here give a catalogue of all 
the sins with which Israel are reproached in the various 
prophetical and historical books. It is only necessary 



186 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

to read the book of Judges or the books of Kings, Amos, 
and Hosea, Isaiah and Micah, or Jeremiah and Ezekiel, 
to find that it is almost always, in substance, the same 
transgressions that are noticed. In the historical and 
the prophetical books, the sin that is oftenest mentioned 
and that is reckoned most serious is the constantly 
reviving idolatry by which Israel broke the covenant 
with Jehovah. Along with this chief sin, transgres- 
sion of the first of the ten commandments, the prophets 
very often mention the sins against one's neighbor that 
are condemned by the second table of the decalogue, — 
murder, theft, adultery, false testimony. Amos thus 
early reproaches the Israelites with being wanting in 
justice and equity, despising rectitude for the sake of 
presents, leading licentious lives, oppressing the lowly, 
the needy, devoting themselves in their cupidity to un- 
just traffic, trusting in their own power; and most of 
these charges appear in the other prophets. Another 
form of unfaithfulness with which Israel are often re- 
proached is that of putting their trust in their power- 
ful neighbors and seeking alliance with them instead 
of trusting in God. 

What interests us more than a complete and detailed 
catalogue of the forms of Israel's unfaithfulness, is the 
dominant idea of sin, the principle unifying its diverse 
manifestations. According to the Old Testament, he 
who sins sins against God. 1 This is what forms the 
essence of sin, and what gives to the idea of sin its 

1 Gen. xiii. 13 ; xx. G ; xxxix. 9 ; Ex. x. 16 ; xxxii. 33 ; Lev. v. 19 ; 
Num. xv. 30 ; Deut. i. 41 ; 1 Sam. vii. 6 ; xiv. 33 ; 2 Sam. xii. 13 ; 
2 Chron. xix. 10 ; xxviii. 10, 13 ; Ps. li. 4 ; Jer. xiv. 7, 20 ; xvi. 10 ; Isa. 
xlii. 24 ; etc. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 17. ESSENCE OF SIN. 187 

peculiar depth and gravity. The Israelite saw in sin 
an offence against God, because he saw in it a trans- 
gression of the divine will, which should serve man as 
a rule of conduct. Man should be familiar with the 
will of God since God has revealed it to him ; Israel in 
particular know it perfectly through the law and the 
prophets. The legislation of the Pentateuch takes 
account of the least details of life, and represents all 
the laws and ordinances as so many commands of God. 
In this way all life, national and individual, public 
and private, civil and religious, was regulated, and very 
minutely, by God himself. Not to obey these laws 
was to transgress the will of God, to sin against him. 
The fall of Adam itself is represented as a transgres- 
sion of a formal command of God, an act of disobedi- 
ence toward God. This is the way in which sin is 
represented everywhere in the Old Testament. 

The application that is here made of this way of 
thinking may perhaps be found far from perfect. It is 
none the less true, however, that this will always be 
the fundamental principle of all healthy piety, of all 
truly religious morality. The Israelites may have 
fallen into all sorts of errors concerning sin ; they may 
have regarded as sins what we do not consider such ; 
they may have had scruples about matters that seem to 
us perfectly indifferent, like the distinction between 
clean and unclean foods ; they may not have regarded as 
sins what we consider such, e.g. the complete extermina- 
tion of hostile peoples ; but it will never be possible 
from the religious standpoint to form a better concep- 
tion than they did of the essence of sin. 

Since the law, the expression of the will of God, reg- 



188 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ulatecl in the main only external acts, sin was con- 
ceived of in a way somewhat superficial and external. It 
must, however, be admitted that it was not made to 
consist solely in external transgressions, but also in 
internal dispositions. The decalogue itself forbids evil 
desires along with evil acts and words. 1 That they 
went to the very source of sin, to the internal disposi- 
tions, is also proven by the fact that they insist, as we 
shall see later on, upon the necessity of the regenera- 
tion of the heart as a preparation for doing the will of 
God. Schultz, however, remarks that from ancient 
times there did not exist ideas so sound and correct; 
that sin was first conceived of in a more superficial 
manner, as simple disregard of the religious and civil 
practices of Israel ; and that prophetism alone rose to a 
higher standpoint. 2 This is perfectly correct and alto- 
gether natural. The child has only a superficial idea 
of sin. It is the same with peoples in the stage of in- 
fancy. Now Israel passed through infancy before reach- 
ing manhood. When we compare the legislation of 
Deuteronomy with that of document A, we notice a 
very perceptible progress in this regard, for the latter 
insists much less on internal dispositions than the 
former. So also it is the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
and deutero-Isaiah, who, more than the earlier pro- 
phets, proclaim the necessity of the regeneration of 
the heart. The book of Judges and those of Samuel 
bear witness to very rude morals ; they describe acts of 
barbarity which do not, however, seem to have been 
regarded as blameworthy. Prophets like Samuel and 
Elijah cause to be executed, or themselves execute, 
i Ex. xx. 17. 2 II. 281 f. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 18. THE EXTENT OF SIN. 189 

horrible massacres. It is evident that, under ancient 
prophetism, moral ideas, notions of good and evil, were 
still very imperfect, and that therefore the idea of sin 
was more superficial than it finally became. 



§ 18. THE EXTENT OF SIN. 

A series of passages assert that sin is universal, that 
it extends to all men. 1 Some teach that man is a sinner 
from his youth or from his birth. 2 How, in fact, could 
anything clean be born of an unclean person? 3 

History, as it is recounted in the Old Testament, 
also tends to establish the universality of sin. It shows 
that man sinned, and that immediately after his crea- 
tion ; that his descendants sinned to such a degree as 
to bring the deluge upon the whole human race ; that 
after this chastisement men began to sin again, as is 
proven by the erection of the Tower of Babel and the 
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The patriarchs 
were not free from faults. And the entire history of 
the people Israel is largely but a recital of their re- 
peated lapses from faithfulness, from the desert to the 
Exile. As for the heathen peoples, they are generally 
represented as enemies of God. 

Nevertheless, certain passages might lead one to be- 
lieve that the Old Testament admits exceptions to the 
general rule. Alongside of wicked Cain we find pious 
Abel. 4 Farther on reference is made to Enoch, who 

1 1 Kings viii. 40 ; Job iv. 17-19 ; xiv. 4 ; xv. 14-1G ; Ps. xiv. 1-3 ; 
liii. 1-3; c:xvi. 11 ; cxliii. 2 ; I'rov. xx. 9; Eccl. vii. 20. 

2 Gen. viii. 21 ; Ps. li. 5 ; lviii. 3 ; com]). Isa. xlviii. 8. 

3 Job xiv. 4 ; xv. II. •» Gen. iv. 



190 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

walked with God. 1 Noah also, in spite of the general 
corruption, remained righteous. 2 The biblical narra- 
tives accuse Abraham and Joseph of no faults ; for what 
might seem to us blameworthy or immoral was probably 
not so in the eyes of the sacred authors. Abraham 
furnishes a striking contrast to the perversity of Sodom 
and Gomorrah, and Joseph to the wickedness of his 
brothers. Job is called an upright, righteous man, 
fearing God and shunning evil. 3 There are psalmists 
who call themselves righteous, innocent, pure. 4 Many 
passages, especially in the Psalms, mention numerous 
righteous persons. 

Does the Old Testament really admit exceptions to 
the universality of sin ? This is not impossible, since 
the natural corruption of man is not so strongly empha- 
sized in it as in the New Testament, and since, on the 
other hand, human freedom is clearly recognized. Why 
might not certain men have made a good use of their 
freedom and have been preserved from evil? Once 
more, it is admissible from the standpoint of the Old 
Testament; for all the books do not assert, as some 
passages do, that there is no one who is righteous, not 
even one. Nothing, however, on the other hand, in- 
dicates that the righteousness attributed to some men 
is perfect. It is possible that in all these cases the 
sacred authors meant to speak only of a relative right- 
eousness. David, for example, is often represented as 
the righteous man par excellence, for love of whom God 
many times blessed or preserved from deserved penal- 
ties his unworthy successors, the model theocratic king 

1 Gen. v. 22. 2 Gen. vi. 9 ; vii. 1. 8 Job i. 1, 8 ; ii. 3. 

4 Ps. vii. 8 ; xviii. 20 ff. ; comp. Job. xxii. 30. 



SECOND PERIOD. § 18. THE EXTENT OF SIN. 191 

who is the type of the Messiah, — and in spite of this 
the Old Testament places to his account crimes that it 
represents as such. Moses also, be it remembered, who 
is, nevertheless, exalted above all the other prophets, 1 
committed, according to the biblical narratives, faults 
so grave that he was not permitted to enter the land of 
Canaan. Isaiah, who surely reckoned himself among 
the righteous, declares that he has unclean lips. 2 Doc- 
ument C ordains that all Israel, the priest and. the high- 
priest included, must needs be purified once a year. 3 
Finally, that the Old Testament attributes to certain 
men righteousness and uprightness, apparently in an 
absolute, but really in a relative sense, is shown by the 
fact that these qualities are, as we have seen, actually 
attributed to Job in the former sense, and that the same 
book then categorically asserts that there is not a single 
man who is perfectly clean, 4 and that Job himself is 
not. 5 The author of Ps. xxxii. unquestionably ranks 
himself among the righteous men of whom he speaks, 
v. 11, and yet in the last verses he confesses his sins. 
The same thing is found elsewhere. 6 

It may be well to recall here what we have already 
observed, viz. that in the Old Testament righteousness 
is very often synonymous with piety. The righteous, 
therefore, as contrasted with the unfaithful and impious, 
are the faithful in the entirely relative sense that we 
give to this term, when we use it to designate sincere 
and active Christians, in contrast with doubtful Chris- 
tians or irreligious people. 

1 Num. xii. G-8 ; Deut. xxxiv. 10-12. 2 Tsa. vi. 5. 

8 Lev. xvi. 4 Job xiv. 4 ; xv. 14-16. 

6 Jobxiii.20; x. 14 ; vii.21. (i Ps. xl. 7-12 ; comp. xli. 4 with v. 12. 



192 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

§ 19. THE OEIGIN OF SIN, 

Whence comes it that all men are sinners ? Are they 
so naturally, by virtue of their constitution, or as the 
result of a change in their original nature ? This ques- 
tion deserves our attention the more because Jewish 
and Christian theology have claimed to find the doctrine 
of the Fall in the Old Testament. 

Let us begin with the consideration of Gen. ii. and 
iii., where the explanation of the origin of sin has gen- 
erally been sought. Of the entire canonical literature 
of Israel these two chapters alone tell us of a primitive 
state of man preceding the entrance of sin into the 
world. It is, therefore, fair to conclude that the Isra- 
elites did not give great attention to this question. 
Hope for the future, not regret for the past, is the domi- 
nant note of the religion of Israel. What a difference 
between the idea of the Fall and the Messianic hope! 
The latter plays a leading part in the literature of the 
Old Testament ; the former is mentioned therein but 
once. We must, however, examine this story more 
closely, both on account of the importance that has 
been attributed to it and on account of the false inter- 
pretations that have been given to it. But let us as 
far as possible laj T aside these interpretations and all 
dogmatic contrivances, that we may grasp the content 
of the story in all its purity. 

We remark first of all that our story does not confine 

itself to a description of the primitive condition of the 

first human pair. After having referred to the creation 

of woman and the institution of marriage, 1 the author 

1 Gen. ii. 22 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 19. THE ORIGIN OF SIN. 193 

proceeds immediately to the account of the Fall. 1 We 
shall imitate his example, not dwelling on the original 
condition of man, about which we are not able to say 
much, but regarding it chiefly in its relation to the Fall. 

When we enter into the details, we are struck with 
the analogy that exists, on the one hand, between the 
innocent condition of the first man and childhood, on 
the other, between his sinful condition after the Fall 
and the age of accountability. What is the primitive 
condition of Adam and Eve? They live in a magnifi- 
cent garden, without care or toil, eating the fruits of 
the trees, 2 and they are naked, but without being more 
ashamed than a child of their nakedness ; 3 they do not 
know how to distinguish good from evil, 4 another char- 
acteristic of childhood, 5 or of old age when it has 
reached a second childhood. 6 The first effect of the 
Fall is the feeling of shame : the eyes of Adam and Eve 
are opened, they see that they are naked, and they make 
themselves girdles. 7 This, Umbreit says, is meant to 
suggest in a subtle and delicate manner that observa- 
tion of the distinction of sex and recognition of the 
woman by the man produce the condition necessary to 
reproduction in the human pair. 8 . 

Here, then, are Adam and Eve arrived at conscious 
maturity and puberty. The consequences for the woman 
are the pains of pregnancy and childbirth, as well as 
submission to her husband ; 9 she now has a right to the 
title Eve (life) having become the mother of the living. 10 
As for man, he is condemned to the laborious cultiva- 



1 Chap. iii. 2 Gen. ii. 16. 


8 Gen. ii. 25. 


4 Gen. iii. 5. 


5 Deut. i. 39 ; Isa. vii. 15 f. 


r> 2 Sam. xix. 35. 


7 Gen. iii. 7. 


8 Die Suhde, pp. 21 f. 


,J Gen. iii. 10. 


10 Gen. iii. 20. 



194 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

tion of an unresponsive soil all his life. 1 They both 
attain superior knowledge, the knowledge of good and 
evil, which is the prerogative of divinity, 2 and they are 
driven from paradise forever. 3 It is clear that the sacred 
author had in view the two principal stages of human 
life, childhood and the age of accountability, in describ- 
ing the original condition of man and his situation after 
the Fall. 

Let us complete this picture by adding some new 
touches. Among the trees of paradise is the tree of 
life; 4 man could at first eat freely of its fruit; 5 but 
after the fall he is forbidden it lest he should live for- 
ever. 6 God had forbidden man to eat of the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil under penalty of death ; 7 
he did not wish that he should attain to such knowl- 
edge, 8 but that he should remain under his tutelage. He 
punishes him with death and all the ills of life for 
having disobeyed his command. 

The thought of our author, then, is this : man when 
created by God was as innocent as a child and as happy 
withal; God wished that he should remain in this con- 
dition of childish dependence and simplicity, exempt 
from the cares and sufferings of life ; but man preferred 
to eat of the forbidden fruit and attain higher knowledge ; 
thus God's original plan was disturbed and replaced by 
the present state of things, in which man is more intel- 
ligent but less happy. As for the chief object of the 
story, it is to show the origin, not of sin, moral evil, 
but of physical evil, the ills of life, and to prove that 

i Gen. iii. 17-19, 23. 2 Gen. iii. 5, 22 ; comp. 2 Sam. xiv. 17. 

3 Gen. iii. 23 f. 4 Gen. ii. 9. 5 Gen. ii. 10. 

G Gen. iii. 22, 24. 7 Gen. ii. 17 ; iii. 3. 8 Gen. iii. 22. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 19. THE ORIGIN OF SIN. 195 

not God, but human sin, is the cause of these evils. 1 
Bruch justly remarks that the author of our story 
allowed himself to be guided by the twofold thought 
that physical evil is the result of sin, and that sin is 
connected with civilization ; and that he derived these 
ideas from memory and observation, which tell us that 
the child is happy so long as he remains in the condi- 
tion of ignorance and innocence, while the develop- 
ment of the spirit and of life produces disordered 
instincts and desires that engender most evils. 2 

The questions whence sin came and how man, com- 
ing from the hands of the Creator, could fall into sin, 
seem not to have existed for our author. The Old 
Testament as a whole attributes to man freedom to 
choose between good and evil. Our author also attrib- 
uted the same freedom to the protoplasts ; this is clear 
from what he says of them. Hence it could not occur 
to him to explain the origin of sin, the possibility of 
sinning being implied in the freedom of man. The 
transition from the possibility of sin to its realization 
was, moreover, favored by the external circumstances 
in which God had placed man. It was God, in fact, 
who had planted in the midst of the Garden of Eden 
the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was he who 
had created the serpent and permitted him to stay in 
paradise. 3 The account of the Fall describes simply the 
starting-point of sin in the human bosom. In this 
sense it may be said to explain the origin of sin, but not 
in that of revealing its source or primal cause. It does 

1 Rothe, Dogmatik, L pp. 302 f. 

2 Weisheitslehre der Hebraer, pp. 02 f. ; [Wellhausen, History, pp. 
300 ff.]. s Gen. iii. 1. 



196 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

not reach this cause. It confines itself to the external 
circumstances which furnished our first parents with an 
occasion for sin, by summoning them to make use of 
their freedom. 

What our author wished least of all to explain, 
though the contrary has been asserted, is the origin of 
the innate inclination to evil. On the one hand, he 
grants the existence of this inclination even in Adam 
and Eve, so readily do they yield to the solicitations of 
the serpent; he seems to find it perfectly natural that 
the woman should have coveted the forbidden fruit after 
the serpent had induced her to eat of it. 1 On the other 
hand, he considers Cain as free as his father before the 
Fall and perfectly capable of repelling evil. 2 The only 
change produced by the Fall affects man's knowledge, 
in which respect he has gained much, since discernment 
between good and evil was a great advance ; 3 it affects, 
moreover, the external condition of man, who has lost 
much, in that, having at first been happy, he has be- 
come miserable. As for moral power, as we have just 
seen, it has not been changed in the least. 4 Nor does 
the Old Testament as a whole say more than this story 
about a change produced in the moral nature of man as 
a result of Adam's sin, since outside of this story there 
is never any reference to the fall of Adam or a fall of 
humanity, but it is taken for granted that man is free 
to do good and shun evil. 

This is doubtless the reason, this and the fact of its 
essential practical tendency, why prophetism did not 

1 Gen. iii. 6. 2 Gen. iv. 7. 

3 Gen. iii. 5, 22 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 17 ; 1 Kings iii. 9. 

4 Comp. Schultz, II. pp. 301 f. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 20. THE GUILT OF SIN. 197 

feel the need of giving attention to the origin of sin. 
The question is hardly raised except in the book of Job. 
It sees the cause of the sinful condition of man in his 
natural weakness, his earthly origin, his descent from 
unclean parents. 1 Thus even in this comparatively 
speculative and theoretical book Israelitish thought 
remains essentially empirical; it does not feel the need 
of going back to the causes or first and metaphysical 
reasons for moral evil. 



§ 20, THE GUILT OP SIN. 

The feeling of guilt was very fully developed in 
Israel. It is admirably expressed in the first four peni- 
tential psalms, 2 and in many another passage. Every- 
where in the Old Testament we see sinners filled with 
the feeling of guilt seeking the forgiveness of God. 
Since moral freedom was attributed to man, his respon- 
sibility, and consequently, in case of unfaithfulness, 
his guilt, naturally appeared very great. Guilt is fre- 
quently designated by the same terms as sin itself. Yet 
the Hebrew language also has a peculiar term to ex- 
press it; viz. asham and its derivatives. 3 

The Old Testament generally represents sin as a 
conscious and voluntary transgression of the Avill of 
God; but it teaches that man is also guilty and should 
offer a guilt offering when he has sinned involuntarily, 
by mistake or in ignorance. 4 Tims it appears that there 

1 iv. 17-10 ; xiv. 1-4 ; xv. 14 ; xxv. 4-G ; comp. Ps. ciii. 12-14. 

2 vi., xxxii., xxxviii., li. 

8 Gen. xxvi. 10; xlii. 21; 2 Sam. xiv. 13; Hos. v. 15; xiii. 1 ; 
Ze< li. \i. 5 ; Ezek. xxii. 1 ; etc. 

4 Lev. iv., v. 14-19; Num. xv. 22 IT., 27 IT. 



198 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

is guilt every time the divine commands have been vio- 
lated, whether this violation has been intentional or 
not, and that even in the latter case reparation is due 
to the sacred majesty of God. It is clear that, in this 
view, the principle in accordance with which God takes 
note of the heart, the intention, is not sufficiently pro- 
tected; that more importance is assigned to the external 
act than to the internal disposition. But it should be 
noticed that this conception appears in document C, in 
which Levitical purity generally much outranks moral 
purity. It is a fruit of Levitism, not of prophetism. 
In other documents, it is true, we encounter passages 
which allow that man may be guilty on account of sins 
committed by his ancestors, 1 and even that he may be 
punished for faults of others without regard to ties of 
nature in either direction. 2 On the other hand, the 
guilty may be spared or blessed on account of the 
righteousness of other men. 3 

The Old Testament, then, allows the transfer both of 
guilt and righteousness from one person or generation 
to another, the imputation of the merits and demerits 
of other persons. This arises from the fact that in 
Israel as in antiquity in general, the idea of solidarity 
was very fully developed ; 4 the individual was sacrificed 

1 Ex. xx. 5 ; xxxiv. 7 ; Lev. xxvi. 39 ; Num. xiv. 18 ; Deut. v. 9 ; 
Amos vii. 16 f. ; Hos. iv. 6 ; Jer. ii. 9 ; xxxii. 18 ; Lam. v. 7 ; Isa. xiv. 
21 ; lxv. 6, 7 ; Job xxi. 19 ; Dan. ix. 16 ; Ps. cix. 14. 

2 Deut. i. 37 ; iii. 26 ; iv. 21 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 26 ; xxiv. 3 f. ; Jer. xv. 
4 ; Isa. liii. 

3 Gen. xviii. 26 ff. ; Deut. ix. 26 f. ; 1 Kings xi. 13, 32, 34, 36 ; xv. 
3-5 ; 2 Kings viii. 19 ; xix. 34 ; xx. 6 ; Jer. v. 1 ; Job xlii. 8. 

4 Gen. xx. 9 ; xxvi. 10 ; Num. xvi. 25-33 ; Josh. vii. ; 2 Sam. xxi. 
1-14 ; xxiv. 1 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 20. THE GUILT OF SIN. 199 

to the community. The old covenant, in fact, was a 
covenant beween God and Israel taken collectively, 
and not a covenant with individuals ; they were little 
accounted in comparison with the family, the tribe, or 
the nation. It is s moreover, a matter of experience 
that children often suffer for the faults of their fathers. 
But it is not right to conclude that, therefore, the chil- 
dren are as guilty as they and of their faults ; they are 
much more to be pitied than blamed. Havernick 1 
and Oehler 2 remind us also that vices easily propagate 
themselves in the same family. We do not, however, 
believe with these two scholars that this is the consid- 
eration that gave rise to the view expressed Ex. xx. 5, 
and elsewhere, where it is said that God visits the 
iniquity of the fathers upon the children. It is our 
modern individualism that attributes to the sacred 
authors this way of thinking, because we have difficulty 
in believing that God punishes the righteous instead of 
the guilty. The ancients, being much less individual- 
istic than we, had not the same scruples. Oehler, hi 
defence of his statement, says that the passages in ques- 
tion are very imperfectl} 7 understood "when they are 
made to say that God visits the sins of the fathers upon 
innocent children, and that he causes the blessing of 
pious fathers to rest upon their most degenerate descend- 
ants." It is certain that the sacred authors thought 
neither of innocent children nor completely degenerate 
descendants. But they had just as little thought that 
the children and descendants had sinned like their par- 
ents and ancestors, and been punished for that reason, 
as Oehler would have it. The truth is that they ignored 
1 Theologie, p. 113. 2 § 75. 



200 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the moral worth of the descendants and believed in 
heredity of merit and demerit. Because these passages 
mean that God punishes or blesses children for their 
fathers, without regard to their own conduct and moral 
worth, a feeling of justice afterwards arose in opposi- 
tion to this way of thinking and gave rise to the convic- 
tion that each one was punished only for his own sins. 1 
The above discussion proves that the traditional 
doctrine of original sin, which teaches the heredity of 
the guilt of Adam, finds some support in the Old Tes- 
tament, although it nowhere says that the guilt of 
Adam was transmitted to his descendants or even to 
the whole human race. It allows, in fact, that guilt 
may be transmitted and sometimes is transmitted from 
father to son, and from one generation to another. On 
the other hand, however, it cannot be said to favor the 
doctrine teaching that the natural state of man is a state 
of guilt, that the innate inclination to evil renders 
man worthy of eternal damnation from his birth. The 
Old Testament, on the contrary, sees in this native 
evil inclination an extenuating circumstance which 
the sinner may plead before God. The book of Job 
asks that God be not too strict with man, on account of 
his natural weakness; that he exercise forbearance 
toward him, because it is impossible that a pure man 
should spring from an impure one. 2 One of the psalmists 
also alleges as a reason that should procure him forgive- 
ness with God the fact that he was conceived and born in 
sin. 3 Another psalmist says that God has compassion 

1 Jer. xxxi. 29 f. ; Ezek. xviii ; xxxiii. 10-20 ; Dent. xxiv. 10 ; 2 Kings 
xiv. 6 ; Prov. ix. 12. 

2 xiv. 1-4 ; comp. xiii. 25 f. ; x. 8-14 ; vii. 12-21. 3 p s . ft 5. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 21. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 201 

on those Avho fear him, as a father has compassion on 
his children, because he knows our origin, and remem- 
bers that Ave are dust. 1 Even in document A, God 
promises not to curse the earth on account of man, be- 
cause the designs of his heart are evil from his youth. 2 
According to deutero-Isaiah God would not contend 
and be angry forever, because the spirit and the souls 
of his creatures faint in his presence. 3 

We see that these passages give to the natural weak- 
ness of man, whether physical or moral, the force of a 
reason that should secure for him the divine forbearance. 
This view is unquestionably much more correct than 
the orthodox doctrine of native and hereditary guilt. 

§ 21. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 

The prophets generally first set forth the unfaithful- 
nesses of Israel, as well as those of other peoples, and 
afterward the day of judgment, when the penalties 
decreed will break upon the guilty. This day is often 
called the day of Jehovah. 4 Then, in fact, will be dis- 
played more clearly than ever his supreme power, and 
he will triumph over his enemies ; 5 then also he will be 
known and glorified by the whole world. 6 It will be 
a day of extraordinary terror, causing commotion in 

1 Ps. ciii. 13 f. 2 Gen. viii. 21. 3 Isa. lvii. 10. 

4 Amos v. 18, 20 ; Zeph. i. 7, 14 ; Zech. iv. 1 ; Isa. xiii. 0, ; Ezek. 
xiii. 5; xxx. 3; Joel i. 15; ii. 1. 11, 31 ; iii. 14; Ob. 15. 

5 Isa. ii. 12 ff. ; v. 15 f. ; Jer. xivi. 10; etc. 

G Isa. xix. 21 f. ; xlix. 20 ; Ezek. vi. 7, 10 ; xi. 10, 12 ; xii. 15 f., 20 ; 
xxii. 15 f. ; xxv. 5, 7, 11, 17 ; xxvi. ; xxviii. 22-24 ; xxix. 0, 0, 10 ; xxx. 
8, 10, 25 f. ; xxxii. 15 ; xxxiii. 20; xxxviii. 10, 22 f. ; xxxix. f., 13, 
21 f., 28; Joel iii. 14-17. 



202 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

heaven and earth. 1 It will put an end to the present 
world, and open a new era, as is indicated by the term 
acliarith-liayyamim, the end of the days, by which it is 
designated, 2 and as is suggested by the description of 
the coming of the Messianic kingdom with which we 
shall soon become acquainted. The prophets for the 
most part thought that this day was nigh. 3 They saw 
in every striking public misfortune the prelude to the 
day of judgment, and in ever}^ extraordinary deliverance 
the commencement of the Messianic era. 4 As the ful- 
filment of these predictions was delayed, many of the 
Israelites were led to make sport of the prophetic vis- 
ions and discourses. 5 

The punishment foretold to Israel by almost all 
the prophets is destruction, oppression, and captivity. 
The foreign peoples will serve as instruments in the 
hands of God in executing this penalty. Since the 
prophets generally allow themselves to be guided in 
their predictions by the political condition of their time, 
the oldest of our prophetical books foretell that it will 
be chiefly the Assyrians and the Egyptians who will 
inflict upon Israel the penalties merited by their un- 
faithfulness. 6 From Jeremiah on, the Chaldeans under 

1 Amos viii. 8 f. ; Isa. ii. 9 ft, 19 ff. ; xiii. 6 ff. ; xxiv. 17 ff. ; Hab. 
iii. 3 ff. ; Ezek. xxxii. 7 ff. ; xxxviii. 19 ff. ; Hag. ii. 6, 21 f. ; Joel ii. 
30 f. ; iii. 14 f. 

2 Gen. xlix. 1 ; Num. xxiv. 14 ; Hos. iii. 5 ; Isa. ii. 2 ; Jer. xxx. 24 ; 
xlviii. 47 ; Ezek. xxxviii. 8, 16. 

3 Mic. vii. 4 ; Zeph. i. 7, 14 ; Isa. x. 25 ; xiii. 6, 9, 22 ; xxix. 17 ; 
Ezek. xxx. 3 ; xxxvi. 8 ; Hag. ii. 6 ; Joel i. 15 ; ii. 1 ; iii. 14 ; Ob. 15. 

4 Oehler, § 215 ; Schultz, II. pp. 356 f. 

5 Ezek. xii. 22-28 ; comp. Isa. xxviii. 14 ff. 

6 Hos. viii. 13; ix. 3, 6 ; x. 6 ; xi. 5, 11 ; Isa. vii. 17 ff. ; viii. 4 ff. ; 
xi. 11 ff. ; Mic. vii. 12. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 21. THE DAY OP JUDGMENT. 208 

the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
are regarded as destined to be the chief instruments of 
these penalties. 1 Besides the sword, Jehovah will em- 
ploy famine, pestilence, and other plagues in punishing 
the unfaithful people. 2 

Most frequently the prophets represent the judgment 
as a complete destruction, because they have in view 
the majority of the guilty people. But in reality they 
thought that a remnant would escape the catastrophe. 
Even Amos teaches that the judgment will rather be a 
sorting: the good will be separated from the wicked; 
the latter will perish; the others, a small remnant, a 
tenth of the mass of the nation, will return, after having 
been carried into captivity, to their country. 3 In one 
passage, characteristic in this respect, Isaiah foretells 
that the cities will be devastated and stripped of inhab- 
itants, until there will be no one in the houses, and 
the country will be a solitude, a desert; that, if there 
remain a tenth of the inhabitants they in their turn will 
be annihilated. The overthrow, then, seems to be com- 
plete. Yet the passage closes with these words : " As the 
terebinth and the oak retain their stump, when they are 
cut down, another posterity shall spring from this peo- 
ple." 4 Thus the present guilty generation must dis- 
appear, but to give place to a new and pure one. The 
judgment may also be compared to the harvesting of 
grain and the gathering of olives, in which all is car- 

1 Jer. xx. 4 ff. ; xxii. 25 ; xxv. 0-11 ; xxvii. 12-22 ; xxxii. 24 f., 36 ; 
xxxiv. 2 f., 21 ; xxxvii. 17 ; Bab. i. if. ; Ezek. xxiii. 22 f. ; xvii. 12 ff. ; 
xii. 13. 

- Jer. xiv. 12, 10, 18 ; xv. 2 f. ; xvi. 4 ; xxix. 17 f. ; xxxii. 24, 36 ; 
Ezek. v. 1(5 f. ; vi. 11 f. ; vii. 15 ; xxxiii. 27. 

■' v. 3, 15 ; ix. 8-10, 14 f. * i sa> v j. n_i;>,. 



204 . THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ried away except a small remnant of gleanings and scat- 
tered berries. 1 Elsewhere we learn that the judgment 
is not to result in the total extermination of the people 
Israel, 2 but that they are to be made to pass through 
the crucible of trial, that all the impure elements may 
be eliminated. 3 Thus in numerous prophetic passages 
there is reference to a remnant that will escape the 
catastrophe of the judgment and be the nucleus of the 
new people of God. 4 We shall discuss it farther on. 

But the judgment is not to affect Israel alone ; it is 
to be executed against the heathen peoples also. Amos, 
at the beginning of his book, speaking for Jehovah, 
foretells destruction to the peoples adjoining Israel ; the 
Syrians, the Philistines, the Phoenicians, the Edomites, 
the Ammonites, guilty of crimes against Israel, and the 
Moabites, who have outraged a king of Edom. 5 After 
him, most of the prophets, along with threats against 
Israel, utter threats against the heathen peoples, fore- 
telling the judgment and the penalties of God which 
will overtake them as the reward of their wickedness. 
In the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, is found 
a series of chapters that contain only predictions of 
this kind. 6 They are chiefly directed against the peo- 
ples adjoining Palestine, with whom Israel maintained 
relations. 

1 Isa. xvii. 4-6. 

2 Jer. iv. 27 ; v. 10, 18 ; Zech. xiii. 8 ; xiv. 2 ; Isa. lxv. 8 f. 

3 Isa. i. 25 ; Ezek. ix. 4 ff. ; xx. 38 ; Zech. xiii. 7-0 ; Mai. iii. 1 ff. 

4 Isa. i. ; iv. 3 ; x. 20-22 ; xi. 11, 10 ; xxiv. G ; xxviii. 5 ; xxxvii. 
31 f. ; xli. 14 ; xlix. 6 ; Jer. vi. ; xxiii. 3 ; xxxi. 7 ; Ezek. vi. 8 f. ; xii. 
16 ; xiv. 22 ; Mic. ii. 12 ; v. 6 f . ; Zeph. ii. 9 ; iii. 12 f . ; Deut. iv. 27. 

5 i. 3-ii. 3. 

6 Isa. xiii.-xxi., xxiii. -xxvii. ; Jer. xxv. 9-38 ; xxvii. 2-11 ; xliii. 
8-13; xlvi.-li. ; Ezek. xxv.-xxxii., xxxv., xxxviii. f. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 21. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 205 

Jehovah, whose eye watches foreign nations as well as 
the tribes of Israel, feels offended by the proud might of 
these nations and undertakes to break it. 1 He would 
humble all that is exalted that he alone may be exalted. 2 
Assyria, in particular, which has served as a rod in 
the hands of God to punish Israel, has grown proud of 
its power and its successes, and has forgotten its depen- 
dence as regards God; it must, therefore, be humiliated 
by overthrow. 3 Babylon, also, to which Jehovah has 
delivered his people, has abused its power and been 
merciless toward the captive Israelites ; it has become 
proud, and placed its confidence in wickedness ; it has, 
therefore, merited overthrow. 4 

Besides, the heathen peoples appear as the enemies 
of Jehovah and his people ; so that God, on account of 
his jealousy, believes himself obliged to punish them in 
order to revenge himself and his people. 5 God is angry 
with them also for the wickedness that they have prac- 
tised toward others and especially toward Israel. 6 What 
further incites him against them is their idolatry. 7 The 
nations and kingdoms that do not serve Jehovah must 
be exterminated. 8 

i Zech. ix. 1-6 ; i. 15; Hab. ii. 4 ff. ; Ob. 3 ff. ; Isa. xiv. 13 ff. ; 
xvi. 6 ; xxiii. ; xxv. 11 ; xxvi. 5 ; Jer. xlviii. 20 ff. ; xlix. 16 ff. ; 
1. 31 ff. ; Ezek. xxvii. 1 ff. ; xxviii. 1 ff. ; xxix. 2 ff., 9 ff. ; xxx. 18 ; xxxi. 
1 ff., 10 ff. 2 Isa. ii. 11 ff. ; v. 15 f. ; xxxiii. 10. 

3 Isa. x. 5 ff. ; xxxvii. 21-20. 4 Isa. xlvii. 

5 Nah. i. 2 ff. ; Jer. xlviii. 20, 42 ; 1. 14 f., 24, 28 f., 34 ; li. 6, 11, 36 ; 
Isa. xxxv. 4; xlvii. :) ; lxiii. 4 ; Zech. i. 14 f. ; Joel iii. 21. 

|; Nah. ii. 1 ff. ; iii. 1 IT. ; Zeph. ii. 8 ff. ; Hab. ii. 9 IT. ; Zech. xii. 9 ; 
xiv. 12 ; Jer. xii. 14 ; xlviii. 27 ; 1. 17 f. ; li. 24 ; Ezek. xxv. 3 It'., 8 ff., 
12 ff., 15 ff. ; xxvi. 2 ff. ; xxxv. 5 ff., 10 ff. ; xxxvi. 2 ff.; xxxviii f. ; Is;:, 
xiv. 4 ff. ; xii. 11 f. ; xlix. 25 ; li. 22 f. ; Joel iii. 1 IT., 19 ; Ob. 10 IT. 

" Jer. 1. 38 IT. ; li. 47, 52. 8 Isa. Ix. 12 ; Jer. xii. 17. 



206 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

God executes his judgment against the heathen peo- 
ples by choosing the most powerful among them to 
destroy the others. Egypt and especially Assyria are 
first called to play this part, as they did toward Israel ; 1 
later it is the Chaldeans, led by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 then 
the other peoples, previously governed by the Chal- 
deans ; 3 and chiefly the Mecles and Persians under King 
Cyrus. 4 Sometimes also God exterminates a people 
by civil wars. 5 Or perhaps Israel, after having been 
oppressed by foreign peoples, repay them in kind. 6 
Finally, God interferes directly by prodigies and ex- 
traordinary plagues. 7 

We see, in fine, that the judgment of God upon the 
world is executed by natural means, especially by 
wars ; but by reason of the theocratic standpoint adopted 
in Israel, the advancement of the principal Asiatic 
peoples of this period and their final humiliation are 
regarded as produced by God himself, who thus realizes 
his purposes respecting all the nations of the earth and 
particularly respecting his peculiar people. We see 
also that, to the prophets, the world is equivalent to 
the peoples who came within their narrow geographical 
and political horizon. 

1 Isa. vii. 18 ff. ; viii. 4 ff. ; xx. 1 ff. ; xxiii. 13. 

2 Hab. i. 5 ff. ; Jer. xxv. 9-11 ; xxvii. 2-6 ; xliii. 8-13 ; xlvi. ff. ; 
Ezek. xxvi. 7 ff. ; xxix. 18 ff. ; xxx. 10 ff., 24 ff. ; xxxii. 11. 

3 Hab. ii. 8 ; Jer. xxv. 12 ff. ; xxvii. 7. 

4 Isa. xliii. 14 ; xlv. 1 ff. ; xlviii. 14 ; xiii. ; xxi. 1 ff. ; Jer. 1. f. 

5 Isa. xix. 2 ff. ; Zech. xiv. 13. 

6 Mic. iv. 13 ; Zeph. ii. 9 ; Zech. xii. 6 ; ii. 8 f. ; Joel iii. 8 ; Ob. 18. 

7 Mic. vii. 15 ; Zeph. ii. 12 ; Hab. iii. 1 ff. ; Zech. xii. 4 ; xiv. 3 £., 
12 ff. ; Ezek. xxviii. 23 ; xxxviii. 20, 22 ; Isa. xiii. 9 ff. ; lxvi. 15 f. ; 
Joel iii. 14 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 22. SALVATION. 207 

§ 22. SALVATION. 
I. The Restoration of Israel under the Neiv Covenant. 

Jehovah cannot completely and forever cast off his 
people; he cannot deal with them according to his 
wrath; when he sees them in distress, he is touched with 
compassion, as a mother pities the fruit of her bowels. 1 
He is, moreover, bound by oaths that he has sworn to 
the fathers. 2 Finally, he cannot abandon his people, 
on account of his name, which is profaned among the 
heathen nations and which must be sanctified by the 
restoration of Israel, that these nations may become ac- 
quainted with Jehovah and know that it is he who has 
upraised that which was thrown down and planted that 
which was laid waste. 3 

We have seen that the judgment of God is not to 
result in the complete extermination of Israel ; that, on 
the contrary, a small remnant will escape. With this 
remnant Jehovah will make a new and an everlasting 
covenant. 4 It will be a new Israel, which will really 
be the people of Jehovah, and of which Jehovah will 
be the God. 5 

But to this end the people must fulfil certain condi- 
tions. They must profit by the chastisements endured; 
they must confess their faults ; they must return to Je- 

1 Hos. xi. 8 f. ; Isa. xlix. 15 f. ; Jer. xxxi. 3 ff. 2 Mic. vii. 20. 

3 1 Sam. xii. 22 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 22-30 ; Isa. xlviii. 9, 11. 

4 Hos. ii. 14 ff. ; Jer. xxxi. 31-37 ; xxxii. 40 ; 1. 5 ; Ezek. xvi. 00, 02 ; 
xxxiv. 25 ; xxxvii. 20 ; Isa. xlii. ; xlix. 8 ; liv. 5-10 ; lxi. 8. 

5 Hos. i. 10 ; ii. 23 ; Jer. xxiv. 7 ; xxx. 22 ; xxxi. 1, 33 ; xxxii. 38 ; 
Ezek. xi. 20 ; xiv. 11 ; xxxiv. 24, 30 ; xxxvi. 28 ; xxxvii. 23, 27 ; Zeeh. 
xiii. ; viii. 7 f. 



208 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

hovah and humbly ask his forgiveness. 1 Jehovah does 
not desire that his people should die, perish ; he desires 
their conversion, that is to sa}^, that they should live 
and be saved. 2 He will, on their repentance, grant his 
people a full pardon. 3 He will pour his spirit upon the 
new Israel, 4 the members of which will be taught by 
himself. 5 The whole land will be filled with the 
knowledge of Jehovah. 6 God will give to his people a 
new spirit ; he will replace their stony heart with a heart 
of flesh; he will imprint upon it his law and his fear, 
that he may render it fit to fulfil his commands. 7 Thus 
will be formed a holy, righteous, faithful people, fear- 
ing God, purified by him from all stains. 8 Idolatry 
and every superstition will disappear from the midst 
of his people. 9 According to Ezekiel, an ecclesiastical 
will correspond to this religious and moral regeneration ; 
Jerusalem will have a splendid sanctuary, a Levitical 
worship well regulated and free from all impurity; 

i Hos. xiv. 1 f . ; Isa. i. 27 ; x. 20 ff. ; Jer. iii. 14, 22 ff. ; xxiv. 7 ; 
xxix. 13 ; xxxi. 9, 18 f . ; 1. 4 f . ; Ezek. vi. 9 ; xvi. C1-G3 ; xx. 43 ; 
xxxvi. 31 ; Deut. iv. 30 ; xxx. 1 f., 8. 

2 Ezek. xviii. 23, 30-32.; xxxiii. 11. 

3 Mic. vii. 18 f. ; Isa. xxxiii. 24 ; xliii. 25 ; xliv. 22 ; lv. 7 ; Jer. xxxi. 
34 ; xxxiii. 8 ; 1. 20 ; Ezek. xvi. 63 ; Zech. iii. 9 ; v. 5 ff. 

4 Isa. xxxii. 15 ; xlii. 1 ; xliv. 3 ; lix. 21 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 27 ; xxxix. 
29 ; Joel. ii. 28 f. 5 Isa. liv. 13 ; Jer. xxxi. 34. 

6 Isa. xi. 9 ; Jer. xxxi. 34. 

7 Jer. xxiv. 7 ; xxxi. 33 ; xxxii. 39 f. ; Ezek. xi. 19 f. ; xxxvi. 26 f. ; 
Deut. xxx. 6. 

8 Isa. i. 26 f. ; iv. 3 f. ; vi. 13 ; xxvi. 2 ; xxxii. 16 ; xxxv. 8 ; Iii. 1 ; 
lx. 17 f., 21 ; lxii. 12 ; Jer. xxxi. 23 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 33; xxxvii. 23 f.; 
xliii. 7 ; Ob. 17 ; Zeph. iii. 9, 13 ; Zech.- v. 1-4 ; viii. 3 ; xiii. 9 ; xiv. 
20 f. ; Joel iii. 17. 

9 Isa. xxx. 22 ; xxxi. 17 ; Ezek. xi. 18 ; xxxvii. 23 ; Hos. ii. 17 ; 
xiv. 8 ; Mic. v. 12-14 ; Zech. ix. 7 ; xiii. 2. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 22. SALVATION. 209 

there will reign a state of things entirely new and truly 
ideal. 1 A number of other prophets, especially among 
the latest, also express the hope that the Levitical 
worship will maintain its importance under the new 
covenant. 2 

Then Jehovah will again dwell in Zion, in the midst 
of his people, of whom he will be the king and the 
saviour. 3 He will gather about him the Israelites scat- 
tered among the heathen nations. 4 The most cordial 
union and agreement will ever reign between the king- 
dom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah, which will be 
subject to one and the same head, a descendant of David. 5 
The king of this new Israel will be surrounded by great 
glory. 6 He and his princes will govern in righteous- 
ness and uprightness. 7 This wonderful restoration 
appears to the eyes of the prophets like a veritable 
resurrection. 8 

The neAv people of God will multiply extraordinarily 
and extend themselves afar. 9 They will be strong and 

1 Chaps, xl.-xlviii. 

2 Zech. xiv. 1(3 ff. ; Jer. xxxi. 14 ; xxxiii. 18, 21 f. ; Isa. xix. 21 ; 
lvi. 7 ; lx. 13 ; lxvi. 21, 23 ; Mai. i. 11 ; iii. 3 f. 

3 Mic. ii. 13; iv. 7 ; Zeph, iii. 15, 17; Ezek. xxxvii. 27; xliii. 7; 
xlviii. 35 ; Jer. iii. 17 ; Isa. xxiv. 23 ; Joel iii. 17, 21 ; Zech. ii. 11- 
13 ; viii. 3 ; Mai. iii. 1. 

4 Isa. xi. 11 ff. ; xiv. 1 ; xxvii. 12 f. ; xliii. 5-7 ; xlix. 12, 17-22 ; lx. 
4; lxvi. 20; Jer. iii. IS; xvi. 15; xxiii. 8; xxix. 14; xxx. 3, 10, 18; 
xxxi. 8, 10 ; xxxii. 37, 44 ; xxxiii. 7 ; Ezek. xi. 17 f. ; xxxiv. 12 ; xxxvi. 
24 ; xxxix. 27 ; IIos. xi. 10 f. ; Amos ix. 14 ; Mic. ii. 12 ; iv. ; Zeph. 
iii. 18-20 ; Zech. x. 8 ff. ; viii. 7 f . ; Dent, xxx. 3-5. 

5 IIos. i. 11 ; iii. 5 ; Amos ix. 11 ; Isa. xi. 13 ; Jer. iii. 18 ; xxxi. ; 
1. 4 ; Ezek. xxxvii. 15 if., 24 IT. o i sa< xi 10 . xxx iii. 17. 

7 Isa. xxxii. 1 ; Jer. xxxiii. 15. 

H IIos. vi. 1-3 ; xiii. 1 I ; Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14 ; Ism . xxvi. IS f. 

9 Isa. ix. 3, 7 ; xxvi. 15; xxxiii. 17 ; xlix. 10-21 ; liv. 2 f.; lx. 22 ; 



210 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

happy, and no longer fear foreign powers. 1 They will, 
on the contrary, subdue the other peoples under their 
yoke or else destroy them. 2 Other passages say that 
the foreign peoples will themselves voluntarily submit 
to the new Israel and serve them. 3 The treasures of 
the nations will be offered to Israel and to their God. 4 
Israel will live in peace and security protected from 
dangers, and the whole panoply of war will become su- 
perfluous. 5 They will enjoy perfect happiness. 6 Uni- 
versal peace will be established on earth. 7 

What is even more remarkable than all this is that the 
new era will be inaugurated by a not less extraordinary 
change that will take place in nature and extend from 
the stars of heaven to the beasts of the field and the 
products of the earth. There will be a wonderful abun- 
dance of the fruits of the earth, a surprising material 
prosperity, a state of things so like fairy-land that the 
desert will be changed into a paradise. 8 God will make 

Jer. iii. 16 ; xxx. 19 ; xxxi. 27 f. ; Ezek. xxxvi. 10 f., 37 f. ; xxxvii. 26 ; 
xlvii. 15 ff. ; Hos. i. 10 ; Amos ix. 12 ; Ob. 19 f. ; Zech. ii. 4 ; viii. 
4 f. ; ix. 10, 17 ; x. 8. 

1 Isa. ix. 4 ; liv. 17 ; lx. 18 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 28 f. ; xxxvi. 15 ; Joel iii. 

17 ; Mic. v. 5-9 ; Zech. ix. 8. 

2 Isa. xi. 14 ; xli. 14-16 ; xlv. 14 ; li. 22 f. ; lxi. 5 ; Joel iii. 4-8 ; 
Amos ix. 12 ; Ob. 17-21 ; Zeph. ii. 4-7, 9 ; Zech. ix. 13 ff.; x. 5ff. 

3 Mic. iv. 1-3 ; Isa. ii. 2-4 ; xi. 10 ; xiv. 1 f. ; xliv. 5 ; xlix. 22 f. ; 
lv. 5 ; lx. 10-14. 

* Isa. xviii. 7 ; xxiii. 17 f. ; xlv. 14 ; lx. 5ff., 16 f.; lxi. 6 ; lxvi. 10 ff. ; 
Zeph. iii. 10 ; Hag. ii. 7 f. ; Zech. xiv. 14. 

5 Isa. iv. 6 ; xxxii. 16-18 ; xxxiii. 6 ; lx. 17 f. ; Jer. xxx. 10 ; xxxii. 
27 ; xxxiii. 16 ; Ezek. xxviii. 26 ; xxxiv. 25, 27 ; xxxvii. 26 ; Hos. ii. 

18 ; Mic. iv. 4 ; v. 8 f. ; Hag. ii. 9 ; Zech. ix. 10 ; xiv. 11. 

6 Isa. ix. 3 ; li. 3 ; lxv. 18 f. ; Jer. xxx. 19 ; xxxi. 12-14 ; xxxiii. 10 f. 

7 Mic. iv. 3 ; Isa. ii. 4. 

8 Isa. xxx. 23-25 ; xxxii. 15 ; xxxv. 1 f., 6 f. ; xli. 17-20 ; xliii. 19 f. ; 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 22. SALVATION. 211 

a covenant with the beasts of the field, the birds of 
heaven, and the reptiles of the earth, 1 that men may no 
longer fear them. 2 According to other passages the wild 
animals will be exterminated for the sake of the safety 
of men. 3 Every one will attain an advanced age. 4 One 
prophet even hopes that death will forever be abolished, 
and that God will also dry all tears. 5 The blind will 
see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the lame leap, and 
no one will be sick more. 6 The light of the moon will 
be equal to the brightness of the sun, and the bright- 
ness of the sun will be sevenfold greater. 7 According 
to deutero-Isaiah the light of the sun and the moon will 
even be replaced by Jehovah, who will serve as a light 
day and night. 8 There will, then, in reality be new 
heavens and a new earth. 9 

This state of things, being, as we have seen, based on 
an everlasting covenant, will naturally have an ever- 
lasting duration. 10 

We see that, under the new covenant, there will be 
a sort of golden age, and that all the imperfections of 
the old covenant and of the present world will have 
disappeared. Under the new order of things Israel will 

xlix. 10 f.; li. 13 ; lv. 1 f., 13 ; lx. 17 ; Jer. xxxi. 12-14, 24 f. ; xxxiii. 
12 f. ; Ezek. xxxiv. 26 f., 29 ; xxxvi. 29 f. ; xlvii. 1-12 ; Hos. ii. 21 f.; 
Joel iii. 18 ; Amos. ix. 13 ; Zech. viii. 12 ; ix. 17 ; x. 1 ; xiv. 8, 10. 
i Hos. ii. 18. 2 Isa. xi. 0-8 ; Ixv. 25. 

3 Ezek. xxxiv. 25, 28 ; comp. Isa. xxxv. 9 ; Lev. xxvi. 6. 

4 Isa. Ixv. 20 ; comp. Zech. viii. 4 ; Ex. xxiii. 26. 
6 Isa. xxv. 8 ; comp. Ixv. 19. 

6 Isa. xxix. 18 ; xxxiii. 23 f. ; xxxv. 5 f. ; comp. Ex. xxiii. 25. 

7 Isa. xxx. 20. 8 Isa. lx. 19 ; comp. xxiv. 23 ; iv. 5. 
9 Isa. Ixv. 17 ; lxvi. 22. 

10 Jer. vii. 7; xxiv. 6; xxxi. 36,40; Ezek. xxxvii. 25; Isa. xxxv. 
10 ; Ixv. 22 ; lxvi. 22 ; Joel iii. 20 ; Amos ix. 15 ; Mic. iv. 7. 



212 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

be faithful in all respects to their God, and consequently 
enjoy without measure all divine blessings, material 
and spiritual. It is clear, however, from the above dis- 
cussion that, in the eyes of the prophets, the future 
world will not be a celestial, but a terrestrial one, the 
present world transformed or transfigured. 



II. The Participation of the Gentiles in the New 

Covenant. 

The judgment of God against the heathen peoples will 
not result in their complete extermination. Just as a 
remnant of Israel will come forth from the judgment 
purified, to form the nucleus of a new people of Jehovah, 
so some among the heathen peoples will escape and 
survive the catastrophe of the judgment. 1 Those who 
escape will be able to participate in the final salvation, 
the new covenant, made between Jehovah and the new 
Israel. 

Two passages, almost identical, one found in Isaiah 
and the other in Micah, which seem to be copied from 
an older prophetic document, thus early give us a clear 
glimpse of such a prospect. They spy that at the end 
of the days, i.e. at the end of the present era, and in 
the time of the new covenant, all peoples will flow to 
the mountain of the house of Jehovah, to be taught in the 
law, in the word of Jehovah; and then Jehovah will 
be their judge, their arbiter; they will no more draw 
the sword against one another, they will not longer learn 

1 Zech. xiv. 16 ; ix. 6 f. ; Jer. xlviii. 42, comp. with v. 47 ; xlix. 
1-5, comp. with v. 6 ; Ezek. xlix. 13 ff. ; Isa. xlv. 20. 



SECON DPERIOD. — § 22. SALVATION. 213 

to make war, but they will transform their arms into 
agricultural implements. 1 

Micah, it is true, does not seem to have completely 
assimilated the universalism that these words express. 
He adds immediately afterwards : "While all the peo- 
ples walk, each in the name of its god, we will walk 
in the name of Jehovah, our God, forever and ever." 2 

Micah, then, seems to have admitted that the partic- 
ularism according to which Jehovah is only the God 
of Israel, would endure forever. He treats the for- 
eign peoples as enemies and gives us to understand that 
the}^ will be completely overthrown and governed by 
Israel. This follows especially from v. 7-9, where 
he says of the remnant of Jacob that it will fall upon 
the other peoples as suddenly and unexpectedly as the 
dew, and will be among them like a lion among the 
beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks 
of sheep, that tramples and rends, with none to deliver. 
Verse 9, in particular, leaves the enemies of Israel no 
other prospect than that of extermination. 

This view is found in other prophetic writings, in 
which the heathen peoples are treated as enemies of 
God and Israel, worthy of the most severe penalties, 
without the least prospect of salvation. It is the domi- 
nant view in most of the books of the Old Testament. 
Salvation is promised to the gentiles only in certain 
prophetical books, and in some few passages not 
prophetic. 

According to those of the prophets who hope for the 
salvation of the gentiles, the judgment executed by 
God will contribute especially to their conversion, by 
J Isa. ii. 2-1 ; Mic. iv. 1-3. 2 Mic. iv. 5. 



214 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

making them understand the vanity of idolatry, and 
acknowledge that Jehovah is the only true God. 1 The 
deliverance, the restoration, and the new glory of Israel 
will produce the same salutary effect. 2 The king of 
the new covenant will be like a banner toward which 
the heathen nations will turn. 3 The superiority of the 
law and the word of Jehovah will beget among them 
the desire to be instructed therein. 4 Jehovah will 
in fact establish his law that it may be the light 
of the peoples. 5 Deutero-Isaiah rises to a standpoint 
almost evangelical, when he teaches that the servant of 
Jehovah, i.e. the faithful portion of Israel, 6 will pub- 
lish righteousness to all the nations and establish it 
upon the whole earth; that he will everywhere make 
known the true religion, consisting in the observance 
of the law, the practice of righteousness ; 7 that he will 
be the light of the nations, and will carry salvation to 
the ends of the earth. 8 He hopes also that those of 
the heathen peoples who escape, after having become 
acquainted with the glory of Jehovah as a judge, will 
be sent by him to the remote nations and islands that 
have never heard of him, that they may there establish 
his glory. 9 

Sometimes there is reference only to the conversion 

i Isa. xix. 21 f. ; xxv. 2 f. ; xlv. 5 f., 14 ; xlix. 26 ; Zeph. ii. 11 ; Jer. 
xvi. 19-21 ; Ezek. xxv. 7, 11, 17 ; xxvi. 6 ; xxviii. 22-24 ; xxix. 9 ; 
xxx. 8, 19, 25 f. ; xxxii. 15 ; xxxviii. 16, 22 f. ; xxxix. 6 f. 

2 Mic. vii. 15-17 ; Jer. xxxiii. 9 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 23, 36 ; xxxvii. 28 ; 
Isa. xlv. 16 ff. ; lii. 10 ; lv. 5 ; lxi. 9, 11 ; lxii. 2 f.; 1 Kings viii. 59 f. ; 
Ps. lxvii. 1 f. 3 Isa. xi. 10, 12. 

4 Isa. ii. 3 ; Mic. iv. 2 ; Deut. iv. 6, 8. 5 Isa. Ii. 4. 

6 See § 24. 7 Isa. xlii. 1, 3 f. 8 Isa. xlii. 6 ; xlix. 6. 

9 Isa, lxvi. 18 f. ; comp. Zech. viii. 21 f. 



SECOND PEEIOD. — § 22. SALVATION. 215 

of some peoples. Thus Isaiah foretells the conversion 
of the Assyrians and the Egyptians, who will make a 
covenant with Israel, and form with them the people of 
Jehovah. 1 But most frequently the prophets express 
the hope that the heathen nations in general will turn 
to Jehovah and participate in salvation. 2 Nevertheless 
they foresee exceptions ; there will be gentiles who will 
not turn to Jehovah and serve him; they will be pun- 
ished and exterminated by God. 3 

In these predictions of a universal salvation Israel- 
itish prophecy attained its culmination. There are, 
however, as we have seen, only certain of the prophets 
who announce these universalistic hopes, and even they 
stop short of absolute universalism ; they do not com- 
pletely renounce particularism ; they claim for Israel, 
for all time, great advantages over the other peoples. 

First of all, Jerusalem will remain the religious 
centre of humanity. Thither the peoples will betake 
themselves "'to be taught in the law and the word of 
Jehovah. 4 This thought is really very natural. The 
prophets were convinced that Israel possessed the true 
religion. History has justified them; religious truth 
and the salvation of the world have come from this 
people. 5 They therefore had a right to declare that 
other nations would come to Jerusalem to be taught in 
saving truth. In so doing they maintained in sub- 
stance the same proposition that the Christians do when 

1 Isa. xviii. 7 ; xix. 18-23. 

2 Lsa. ii. 2 ff. ; xxv. 3, 6 f. ; xlii. 1, 4, ; xlv. 22 f. ; xlix. 6; li. 4 f . ; 
lv. 5 ; lvi. 7 ; lxvi. 23 ; Mic iv. 1 ff. ; Zeph. ii. 11 ; iii. ; Jer. iii. 17 ; 
xvi. 19; Zech. ii. 11 ; viii. 22 f. ; xiv. 10 ; Ps. xxii. 27 ff. ; lxvii. 3 II. ; 
cii. 22. 8 Zech. X i v . i7_io . j er , x jj. 17 . [ sa> ] x> £2. 

4 Isa. ii. 2 f. ; Mic. iv. If. 5 Coinp. .John iv. 22. 



216 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

they assert that the heathen, to attain salvation, must be 
converted to Christianity. There is only this differ- 
ence, that Christians understand that they must go 
through the whole earth to preach the gospel to all 
human, creatures, while the prophets, whose geographi- 
cal horizon was less extended, thought that all the peo- 
ples could without difficulty come to Jerusalem to be 
taught in the law and in the service of the true God. 

The prophets, besides, give utterance to the thought 
that the sanctuary at Jerusalem is the only place to 
which the converted gentiles should bring their offer- 
ings and their sacrifices, and that they should there 
celebrate the feasts in honor of Jehovah, and call upon 
his name. 1 Isaiah, however, admits that the Egj^p- 
tians may erect in their own country an altar to Jeho- 
vah, to offer sacrifices on it. 2 An analogous view is 
perhaps expressed elsewhere. 3 In any case it is very 
rare. 

What most offends us in these present predictions is 
that the people Israel are to remain, under the new 
covenant, the political centre and aristocracy of the 
kingdom of God. And it is well known that this is 
not a secondary thought, from the standpoint of the 
Old Testament, in which religion generally has a very 
pronounced national character. The prophets foretell 
that after the restoration Israel will be found at the 
head of the other peoples, that the latter will be, as it 
were, their servants, that they will bring back from 

1 Isa. xviii. 7 ; xxv. 6 f. ; lvi. 5-7 ; lx. 7, 13 ; lxvi. 20, 23 ; Zech. 
xiv. 16 ff. ; Jer. iii. 17 ; Hag. ii. 7 f. ; 1 Kings viii. 41-43. 

2 xviii., xix., xxi. 

4 Mai. i. 11 ; Zeph, ii. 11; comp., however, iii. 10. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 23. THE MESSIAH. 217 

foreign countries their scattered members, that they 
will bring their riches to them, will rebuild their cities 
for them, and so forth. 1 The Israelites, as compared 
with foreigners, will be priests of Jehovah, eating the 
riches of the nations and glorying in their glory. 2 It 
should be observed that these last hopes are found 
chief!} 7 in deutero-Isaiah, who on the whole rose to a 
purer spiritualism and a broader universalism than the 
other prophets. 

It follows from the above that it is a strange mis- 
conception of the character of the prophets' teaching 
to find in it evangelical ideas concerning the salvation 
of the world. It is at most the germs of these ideas 
that are found there. We have seen that the salvation 
of Israel is there regarded as the perfect realization of 
the terrestrial theocracy which was the aim of the law 
and the prophets. Now the salvation of the gentiles 
will consist in their incorporation into this theocracy, 
yet with this restriction, that they will occupy only a 
subordinate rank, that they will be, as it were, the serfs 
or vassals of Israel. 



§ 23. THE MESSIAH. 

The prevailing view among the prophets is that 
Jehovah himself will direct the events of the new cov- 
enant, that he will execute judgment and accomplish 
salvation. This is altogether conformable to the theo- 
cratic view maintained in the Old Testament and 

1 Isa. xiv. 2 ; xxiii. 18 ; xlv. 14 ; xlix. 22 f. ; lv. 3-5 ; lx. 3-17 ; Ixi. 
5 : lxvi. 20. 2 Isa. Ixi. 5 f. 



218 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

especially by the early Israelites, who would recognize 
no other king than Jehovah. 1 

Later, however, a legitimate monarchy had succeeded 
in establishing itself in the midst of the people of 
Jehovah; then the thought arose that under the new 
covenant also a king, sprung from the ancient royal 
family, would occupy the throne of Israel. This king 
is generally called the Messiah, the Anointed of God, 
though this name is not given to him in the Old Testa- 
ment. It must, however, be observed that he is re- 
ferred to only in a small number of passages. Several 
prophets do not mention him at all. Christian theol- 
ogy, it is true, which has given to the Messiah an 
importance much greater than Israelitish prophetism 
did, has held that he appears in a series of passages in 
which there is no reference to him. We shall not 
undertake to pass in review all these passages for the 
sake of correcting the traditional interpretation. It 
has been done in numerous works. 2 It is only necessary 
to set forth the prophetic teaching to show to all unprej- 
udiced minds that this teaching differs from that of the 
New Testament on the same subject, and that in identi- 
fying the one with the other great violence is done to 
historical truth. 

Amos is content with saying that under the new 
covenant Jehovah will raise up the house of David, 
that he Avill repair its breaches, that he will restore its 
ruins, that he will rebuild it as it was before. 3 Hosea 

i Jud. viii. 22 f. ; 1 Sam. viii. 5-8 ; x. 18 f. 

2 See especially Baur, Gesch. der Alttestam. Weissagung; Anger, 
Gesch. der Messianischen Idee ; Hitzig, Messianische Weissagung. 

3 ix. 12, 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 23. THE MESSIAH. 219 

also hopes for the restoration of the house of David; he 
says that in the new order of things the children of 
Israel will seek Jehovah their God and David their 
king. 1 The restoration of the house, the dynasty, of 
David, is in fact the essence of the Messianic hope of 
Israel and the prophets, and not the sending of a person, 
a unique king, as has generally been believed in the 
Christian church. 

Thus Jeremiah teaches, in the most explicit manner, 
that, in the Messianic era, an uninterrupted series of 
kings, princes, Avill occupy the throne of David ; that 
the posterity of David will be multiplied, in order that 
he may never want a successor; 2 that Jehovah will 
appoint over the remnant of the sheep of Israel, gath- 
ered from all countries, shepherds who will feed them. 3 
Ezekiel is in perfect accord with Jeremiah on this 
subject. According to him also, the house of Israel 
will be governed by a series of kings, after the glorious 
restoration which he foretells ; the prince who occupies 
the throne will have sons who will mount it after him. 4 
It will be with the royal house, overthrown by the 
catastrophe of the Exile, as with a broken cedar, of 
which a branch, replanted, will grow and become a 
great tree. 5 This means that a new line of princes 
will spring from the old royal house, the house of 
David. 

It is true that the same prophets sometimes seem to 
speak of a single king who will rule over the new Israel. 
Jeremiah and Ezekiel say that Jehovah will raise up 
David his servant that he may be king over Israel 

1 iii. 5. 2 xvii. 25 ; xxii. 4 ; xxxiii. 17-2(5. 8 xxiii. 4. 

4 xliii. 7 ; xlv. 8 ; xlvi. 10-18. 5 xvii. 22-24. 



220 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

forever. 1 But what precedes shows in what sense 
these declarations must be understood. David is here 
evidently taken collectively, or rather, the family of 
David is individualized in its head and called servant 
of Jehovah, as the entire people Israel is individual- 
ized and designated by this title not only in cleutero- 
Isaiah, as we shall see later, but also in Jeremiah and 
Ezekiel. 2 Thus also prophetism is individualized, 
Deut. xviii. 15, 18, and the house of David, 1 Kings 
xii. 16. 

The author of Zech. xii.-xiv. shares the idea of the 
preceding prophets. He speaks simply of the house of 
David, which, in the new era, will be powerful as the 
Deity, as the angel of Jehovah, while the feeblest Isra- 
elite will be a hero like David. 3 

Isaiah also seems to share this view. He speaks of 
princes who will govern the new people of God. 4 He 
employs the same comparison that we have found in 
Ezekiel, that of a branch that will spring from the 
stump of Jesse, of a shoot that will grow from his roots, 
to govern and judge this people. 5 Is this not the col- 
lective idea of the new Davidic dynasty? In chapter 
ix. verse 7, the prophet in fact speaks of the throne of 
David and of his kingdom which are to be established 
and maintained by justice and righteousness. In the 
verse preceding, however, there is reference to a child, 
newly born, on whose shoulder the government is to 
rest. Micah also says that from Bethlehem shall go 
forth he who will rule over Israel. 6 Finally, Zech. ix. 

1 Jer. xxx. 9 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 23 f. ; xxxvii. 24 f. ; comp. Hos. iii. 5. 

2 Jer. xxx. 10 ; xlvi. 27 f. ; Ezek. xxviii. 25 ; xxxvii. 25. 

s xii. 8. 4 xxxii. 1. 5 xi. 1 ff. 6 v. 2 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 23. THE MESSIAH. 221 

9 f. speaks of the king who will come to Jerusalem and 
establish his reign from one sea to the other. 

Did these prophets think that one and the same king 
would always govern the Messianic kingdom ? In that 
case they would disagree with the prophets to whom 
reference was made above, which would prove at least 
that in Israel the expectation of a unique and eternal 
Messiah was not a dogma. But it is more probable that 
there was not on this subject any divergence of opinion 
among the prophets but that all expected the restora- 
tion of the dynasty of David, which was to be main- 
tained forever by a perpetual descent; for this is the 
general expectation of Israel. 1 

If there is in some passages reference to only one 
king, it is because the prophets thought that there 
would never be more than one king at a time on the 
throne, and further because their attention was natu- 
rally fixed upon the first, the one who was to inaugu- 
rate the Messianic kingdom; this is certainly the case 
in the passages cited above, Zech. ix., Isa. ix., and 
Mic. v. Haggai thought that Zerubbabel, who had 
returned to Judah at the head of the first exiles, 
would be the king of the restored people, and that in 
him would be fulfilled the early Messianic prophe- 
cies. 2 Zechariah appears to have had the same thought. 
He foretells the coming of a man, a servant of Jehovah, 
called Sprout, who will build the temple of Jehovah, 
who will wear (lie insignia of royalty and rule upon 
his throne. 3 Now according to iv. 9 it is Zerubbabel 

1 1 Kings ii. 4 ; viii. 25 ; ix. 4 f. ; Ps. lxxxix. 3 f., 29-37 ; exxxii. 
10-12. 2 ii. 21-2:5. 

'■'' iii. 9 ; vi. 12 f. ; 00114). Jer. xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15. 



222 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

who laid the foundation, and who will finish the tem- 
ple. Zechariah had, in general, great hopes of this 
chief of the Jewish people. 1 But these prophets surely 
did not believe Zerubbabel immortal; they did not 
therefore expect an eternal Messiah, they simply placed 
Zerubbabel at the head of the royal line of Israel. 

The Messiah, — we will preserve this hallowed title, 
even while giving it a collective sense, — is to be 
essentially a king, i.e. to possess and exercise sover- 
eignty in every acceptation of the term. Even in Hos. 
iii. 5 and Zech. ix. 9 he is called a king; also in other 
passages that we have cited. Executive, and, since 
these also were exercised by the ancient kings of Israel, 
judicial, functions are attributed to him. 2 He will be 
surrounded by great glory. 3 He will secure peace to 
his extended realm; 4 but this will be by means of war 
successfully waged, by which also all the enemies of 
Israel will be annihilated. 5 

According to Ezekiel, the most Levitical of the 
prophets, an important duty of the king under the new 
covenant will be to furnish the numerous victims for 
the sacrifices of the feasts and other solemnities. 6 He 
will offer sacrifices for himself. 7 This single feature 
shows that the prophets had ideas of the Messiah that 
square perfectly with the view of the Old Testament, 
but differ so much the more from the teaching of the 
gospel. 

1 Zech. iv. G f. 

2 Zech. ix. 10 ; Isa. ix. 6 ; xi. 3 f. ; Mic. v. 2, 4 ; Jer. xxiii. 5 ; 
xxx. 21 ; xxxiii. 15 ; Ezek. xxi. 32. 

3 Isa. xi. 10. 4 Zech. ix. 10 ; Isa. ix. 6 f. ; Mic. v. 5. 
5 Zech. ix. 13 ff. ; xii. 1 ft; Isa. xi., xiv. ; Mic. v. 5-9. 

g xlv. 17, 22 ff. "' xlvi. 2 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 23. THE MESSIAH. 223 

The character and qualifications of the Messiah 
should correspond with his functions. Being called to 
govern an ideal kingdom, in which all the imperfec- 
tions of this world will have disappeared, he should 
himself have an ideal character, and possess extraordi- 
nary qualifications. But we should do violence to the 
teaching of the Old Testament, if we tried to find in it 
the doctrine of the divinity of the Messiah for the pur- 
pose of making it conform to the Christian dogma of 
the divinity of Christ. Zechariah distinctly represents 
the Messiah as a man. 1 Micah says that Jehovah is 
his God. 2 We have seen that in a number of passages 
he is called servant of Jehovah. We know that, sprung 
from the family of David, he will perpetuate his stock 
in a natural way. He is everywhere, as respects his 
nature, placed on the same level as the other Israelites 
of the Messianic kingdom. Isaiah, who gives him the 
most sublime titles, says distinctly that the great quali- 
fications with which he will be clothed will be communi- 
cated to him by the spirit of Jehovah, 3 which, we have 
seen, is promised to all Israel. Thus the Messiah 
will have all the intellectual, moral, and religious 
qualifications necessary for governing and judging his 
people. 4 Isaiah ix. 6 f. means nothing else, in spite 
of the extraordinary titles that we there encounter. 

In this passage the Messiah is called Counsellor- 
prodigy, Wonderful Counsellor; this term denotes a 
qualification essential in a king who, like this one, is 
to procure for his people an exceptional degree of pros- 
perity. He is called Hero-god, or, according to Brus- 

1 vi. 12. 2 v. 4. 3 xi. 2. 4 xi. 2-5. 



224 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ton, Valiant Warrior. 1 The title El does not authorize 
us to attribute to him a divine nature, since this same 
title is given to the king of Babylon. 2 We know that 
other kings and judges are called gods, without any 
intention of attributing to them a divine nature. The 
Messiah is called, according to some, Everlasting 
Father; according to others, Father of Booty. Both 
translations are grammatically possible (Reuss). If 
the second, which agrees very well with the title pre- 
ceding, be adopted, it attributes to the Messiah victory 
over his enemies. The first represents him as the father 
of his people. 3 If eternity is attributed to him this 
"means that he will effect something everlasting; cause 
his kingdom and his dynasty to be everlasting." 4 
Finally he is called Prince of Peace, not because he 
will not make war, but because, as a valiant hero, he 
will obtain victory over all his enemies, and thus give 
" increase to the empire, and a peace without end to the 
throne of David and his kingdom," as the passage in 
question says. 

Micah represents the Messiah especially as a glorious 
king who will govern with the support of Jehovah, and 
render his people happy, procuring them peace by vic- 
tory over his enemies, and particularly over the Assyr- 
ians, so formidable to Israel in the time of the prophet. 5 
Attempts have been made to find the eternal preexist- 
ence of the Messiah in the declaration of Micah that 
" his origin dates from ancient times, from the da}~s of 
eternity." But this latter expression is explained by 

1 Literature Prophetique, p. 141 ; [G. A. Smith, Book of Isaiah, pp. 
136 ff.]. 2 Ezek. xxxi. 11. 3 i sa> xx ij. 21. 

* Bruston, p. 142 ; [Schultz, II. p. 403]. 5 v. 4 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 24. SERVANT OF JEHOVAH. 225 

tlie parallel expression "from ancient times." The 
prophet simply means that the Messiah will be a de- 
scendant of the ancient family of David. 1 The word 
eternity or eternal has a merely relative signification in 
the language of the Old Testament. 

The passage, Zech. xii. 8, which says that the house 
of David will be like the Deity, makes a simple com- 
parison, meaning that the royal house, at the head of 
the Israelites, who will all be heroes, will be as it were 
a divine power, repelling the enemy. Finally the 
attempt has been made to find the divinity of the 
Messiah in Jer. xxiii. 6, where he is called " Jehovah 
our righteousness." But Oehler himself opposes this 
interpretation. 2 He shows that it is said, not that the 
Messiah will be Jehovah our righteousness, but that he 
is simply called by this name ; that Jerusalem receives 
the same title, 3 and that an altar is called "Jehovah my 
standard. " 4 It might be added that there are many Isra- 
elitish proper names, of which the name of God forms a 
part, yet those who bore them are not believed to have 
been partakers of divinity. It may even be that the 
name in question was not applied to the Messiah at all, 
but to Israel. 5 



§ 24. THE SEEVANT OF JEHOVAH. 

During the captivity in Babylon, when the royal 
house had fallen with the Israelitish nationality, 
deutero-Isaiah based the hope of the Messianic king- 

> Bruston, p. 250 ; [Schultz, TI. pp. 415 f.]. 2 § 231. 

3 Jer. xxxiii. 16. 4 Ex. xvii. 15. 

6 Schultz, II. p. 418 ; Reuss on Jer. xxiii. 0. 



226 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

dom no longer on a descendant of David, a glorious 
and triumphant king, but upon the faithful and un- 
happy portion of the people to which he gives the name 
servant of Jehovah. He speaks of them more particu- 
larly in the following passages : xli. 8 ff. ; xlii. 1-7, 
18 ft'. ; xliii. 1-10; xliv. If., 21-26; xlv.4; xlviii. 20; 
xlix. 1-9: 1. 4-10; lii. 13-liii. 12. 

Traditional theology has seen in the servant of Jeho- 
vah the Messiah, and has regarded the passages that 
speak of him as predictions relating to Jesus Christ. 
What is true is that Jesus fulfilled the most sublime 
predictions that relate to the servant of Jehovah. But 
modern historical interpretation has had no difficulty 
in demonstrating that our prophet says not a single 
word about the Messiah ; that he assigns to the servant 
of Jehovah a character and rdle entirely different from 
those that are attributed to the latter; that he regards 
him as existing in the present, as having suffered in 
the past, and as having a mission to fulfil among the 
exiled people ; that finally he identifies the coming of 
the Messianic kingdom with the return from the Exile, 
and represents it after a manner in many respects 
entirely different from that of the gospel. 

All this is supported by evidence that any one who 
does not insist upon shutting his eyes to it must con- 
sider unanswerable. It was v easy enough to make 
this result clear. It was more difficult to say who, to 
the thought of the prophet, the servant of Jehovah 
really was. To this question modern exegetes give very 
divergent responses. Some have seen in the servant of 
Jehovah the people Israel taken in their concrete reality; 
others, the ideal people; still others, prophetism. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 24. SERVANT OE JEHOVAH. 227 

These divergencies are readily explained. Deutero- 
Isaiah actually gives the title servant of Jehovah to the 
people Israel taken in their historical reality, the blind, 
sinful, captive people. 1 In so doing he only adopts the 
language used in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. 2 But while 
these last two prophets, like the majority of their pred- 
ecessors, condemn Israel in the mass, and accuse 
them of being completely corrupt, the first distinguishes 
two parts among the people, the one faithful, the other 
unfaithful. He knows righteous and faithful Israel- 
ites, he knows a great multitude who have the law of 
God in their hearts, who follow the right way and shun 
evil. 3 These righteous he carefully distinguishes from 
the unfaithful part of the people; he even contrasts 
them with the latter; in the second part of our book 
he calls them the servants of Jehovah in contrast with 
the wicked. 4 As far as chapter liii., on the contrary, 
this faithful part of the people, like the entire nation, 
is frequently called the servant of Jehovah. 5 This 
alone, in fact, formed the true Israel, and was really 
the servant of Jehovah, while the whole of Israel could 
receive this title only in a potential sense, inasmuch as 
its vocation was to serve God. 

It is, therefore, wrong to claim, as has been done, 
that deutero-Isaiah gives the title servant of Jehovah 
exclusively either to the entire people Israel or to the 
faithful fraction of the people. The truth is that he 
gives it by turns to both of them. He presents this 

1 xli. 8 ff. ; xlii. 19 ff.; xliv. 1 ff., 21 f. ; xlv. 4 ; xlviii. 20. 

2 Jer. xxx. 10 it. ; xlvi. 27 f. ; Ezck. xxviii. 25 ; xxxvii. 25 ; conip. 
Ps. cxxxvi. 22. 

• ; Li. 1, 7 ; lvii. 1 f. ; lix. 15. 4 liv. 17; lxiii. 17 ; lxv. 1 -lxvi. 14. 

6 xlii. 1-7 ; xliii. 10; xliv. 20 ; xlix. 1-1) ; 1. 4-10 ; lii. 13 — liii. 42. 



228 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

fraction in an ideal light, but it has for him a real ex- 
istence, so that it is equally wrong to hold that the 
servant of Jehovah is only an ideal people, as opposed 
to the real people. Finally, since the faithful portion 
of the people possesses certain characteristics and fulfils 
in part the mission of the prophets, the servants of God 
par excellence, it has been possible to maintain with 
some show of reason that the servant of Jehovah is Isra- 
elitish prophetism; but this is only apparently the 
case. 

Our prophet, to whom the return from the Exile and 
the restoration of Israel are equivalent to the inaugu- 
ration of the Messianic kingdom and universal salva- 
tion, thinks that the servant of Jehovah will contribute 
to this grand end, by bringing the captives forth from 
prison, 1 by bringing back the remnant of Israel, by rais- 
ing up the tribes of Jacob, and by distributing among 
them the desolate heritages. 2 He will contribute to the 
work of restoration above all by producing among the 
people the disposition required, that God may grant them 
forgiveness and salvation. This prophet, in fact, like 
the others, insists that it is necessary for the people to 
turn to God, and practise righteousness, in order that God 
may be able to forgive them, make a new and everlast- 
ing covenant with them, and bestow upon them his 
blessings. 3 The chief office of the servant of Jehovah 
is to serve as mediator between Israel and their God in 
establishing this covenant. 4 For the old covenant has 
been broken through the sin of Israel, who are like a 

i xlii. 7 ; xlix. 9. 2 xlix. 6, 8. 

3 xiiv. 22 ; lv. 1 ff., 6 ff. ; lvi. 1 f. ; lviii. 1 ff. ; lix. 20. 

4 xlii. 6 ; xlix. 8. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 24. SERVANT OF JEHOVAH. 229 

woman divorced by her husband. 1 Jehovah, in his great 
mercy, is ready to make a new covenant of peace with 
his rejected spouse. 2 But she must be equally disposed 
thereto. It is the office of the servant of Jehovah to 
open the eyes of the blind people, 3 to bring them back 
to God, from whom they have departed; 4 it is his 
office also to stimulate the courage of those who are not 
rebellious but downcast. 5 

That he may fulfil this mission God has clothed him 
with his spirit; 6 he has given him a ready tongue; 
he has waked him every morning, and opened his ear 
that he may docilely hear the divine instructions. 7 He 
has made his mouth like a sharp sword, and he has 
made him a sharpened arrow. 8 Thus prepared the ser- 
vant of Jehovah fulfils his ministry with docility, 9 with 
gentleness and perseverance, 10 and yet this ministry is 
not an easy matter; it seems to produce no effect. 11 
The servant of Jehovah is despised by his people, he 
is even an object of abhorrence to them. 12 He endures 
persecutions the most ignominious ; but he bears them 
patiently, relying on the assistance of God, and assured 
that his enemies are on the way to destruction. 13 He 
knows that God will glorify himself in him ; 14 he knows 
that he is honored in the eyes of Jehovah, and that his 
God is his strength, 15 that kings will rise before him 
and princes prostrate themselves at his feet. 16 This 
extraordinary humiliation of the servant of Jehovah and 
li is glorious exaltation, so unexpected that it will fill 



1 1. 1 ; lix. 2. 


2 liv. 1-10. 


3 xlii. 7, 


18 ff. 


4 xlix. 


5. 


■> xlii. :5; 1. 4. 


6 xlii. 1. 


7 1. 4 f. 




8 xlix. 


2, 


! » 1. 5. 


" xlii. 3 f. 


ii xlix. 1. 




12 xlix. 


7. 


« 1. 6-9. 


" xlix. 3. 


16 xlix. 5. 




10 xlix. 


7. 



230 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

kings with astonishment, are also described in lii. 
13-15, i.e. the beginning of the most original passage 
bearing on our subject, which, however, has been very 
variously interpreted. 1 

The prophet, after having indicated the general sub- 
ject that he is going to treat, — the extreme humiliation 
and the extraordinary exaltation of the servant of Jeho- 
vah, — complains that such preaching has generally met 
with unbelief among his people. 2 Then the Israelites, 
guilty but repentant, are represented as speaking. 
They first testify to the wretched condition of the ser- 
vant of Jehovah: he is like a weak plant, a wretched 
shoot, that springs from a parched soil, 3 or like a man 
sick with a horrible disease. 4 It will be eas}^ to un- 
derstand what has just been said, and what is said a 
little later, 5 if we do not lose sight of the passages 
already cited, and others in which appears the express 
declaration that the faithful portion of Israel endure 
contempt, abuse, persecution, such as no one else has to 
endure, 6 and that though the righteous perish, no one 
lays it to heart. 7 But what is new is that the guilty 
Israelites recognize that the servant of Jehovah has 
borne their sufferings, that he has been wounded for 
their sins, and smitten for their iniquity, and that the 
punishment that has overtaken him procures them peace 
and salvation. 8 The prophet, speaking in his turn, be- 
ginning with verse 7, confirms the conviction of the 
guilty people; he, too, declares that the servant of 
Jehovah has been smitten for the sins of his people, 
that it has pleased God to crush him with suffering in 

i lii. 13-liii. 12. 2 liii. 1. 3 liii. 2. 4 liii. 3. 

s liii. 7. ° xlix. 7 ; 1..6 ff. ; li. 7. ' lvii. 1. s mi. 4-6. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 24. SERVANT OF JEHOVAH. 231 

spite of his innocence, that he has surrendered his life 
as a sacrifice for sin. 1 These sufferings, willingly ac- 
cepted, and innocently endured, redound to the pros- 
perity of the work of God in the hands of his servant. 2 
With this work we are already acquainted. But it is 
once again described; it consists in henceforth making 
men righteous by instruction, and bearing their iniqui- 
ties. 3 Indeed, if the servant of Jehovah was clothed 
with the divine spirit and instructed by God, that he 
might fulfil his high mission, 4 his seed will enjoy the 
same privilege ; the spirit of God will rest on them, and 
his words will ever be in their mouths, 5 evidently in 
view of the mission that will hereafter devolve upon 
the true Israel. But the sufferings of the servant of 
Jehovah will bring the sufferer to glory; he will see a 
posterity, and prolong his days; freed from troubles of 
soul, he will feast his eyes on the success of his work ; 
God will give him his part with the great, he will share 
the booty with the strong. 6 These last words and the 
parallel passages in our book 7 show clearly that even 
in this remarkable chapter, in which one at times be- 
lieves one's self on evangelical ground, the view of 
the Old Testament is maintained, and that here also 
the servant of Jehovah is a collective term for faithful 
Israel, who, after having innocently endured many 
sufferings, and thus contributed to the salvation, the 
deliverance, of their people, will enjoy the extraordi- 
nary glory, greatness, and prosperity of the same. 

The above result finds its partial confirmation and 
explanation in chapter lxv. vv. 8-10. Here, indeed, 

1 liii. 8-10. 2 liii. 10. » liii. 11. * xlii. 1 ; xlix. 2 ; 1. 4 f . 

5 lix. 21. 6 liii. 10-12. 7 xlix. 7 ; lii. 16. 



232 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Israel is compared to a cluster of grapes, which is not to 
be destroyed on account of the juice that it contains. 
"I will do thus," says Jehovah, "for the sake of my 
servants, in order that all may not be destroyed. I 
will cause my posterity to come forth from Jacob, and 
from Judah an heir to my mountains ; my chosen shall 
possess the country, and my servants dwell in it. 
Sharon shall serve as pasture for the flocks, and the 
valley of Achor as an abode for the herds, for my people 
who shall have sought me." Thus the faithfulness of 
a portion of Israel will prevent God from destroying 
the entire nation. The gross sinners, the idolaters, 
the impenitent, will doubtless be exterminated. 1 But 
those who seek God, after having confessed their faults 
will be saved for the sake of the faithful portion of 
Israel, and with them. And salvation will consist in 
the possession of the country and great material 
prosperity. 

We have seen that the servant of Jehovah fulfils 
his mission, in part at least, by his sufferings, by be- 
coming an expiatory victim, both in the eyes of the 
people and in the eyes of God. He gives to the offended 
God the satisfaction that is due him, and procures 
for the guilty and repentant people assurance of the 
forgiveness of Gocl. Hence the establishment of a new 
covenant between Israel and their God becomes possible, 
and in consequence of this covenant of peace and sal- 
vation, the deliverance and restoration of Israel also. It 
should be observed that the prophet gives the promise 
of the covenant immediately after having shown in 
chapter liii. that the sins of the people have been expi- 
1 lxv. 11 ff. ; comp. w. 5-7 ; lxvi. 4-6, 14, 17, 24 ; 1. 11. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 25. RETRIBUTION. 233 

ated. 1 To the thought of the prophet there was evi- 
dently a real connection between these two ideas. 

How did deutero-Isaiah attain this original idea, that 
the faithful part of Israel atones for the sins of the 
unfaithful portion ? It meets, in reality, a want that 
must have made itself keenly felt in the land of exile. 
It was not possible to offer to Jehovah victims to ap- 
pease him, and to obtain his forgiveness there, far from 
the only lawful sanctuary. How then was assurance of 
his forgiveness to be obtained? This was possible if 
the faithful part of Israel was regarded as an expiatory 
victim. Noav this conception would naturally enough 
present itself to the mind of the prophet. It was 
always believed in Israel that faults could be expiated 
by persons other than those who committed them. 
Thus the family of Korah, and that of Achan had to 
expiate the faults committed by their heads ; 2 the 
people Israel had to suffer for the faults of King David 3 
and King Manasseh ; 4 and the descendants of Saul for 
that of their ancestor. 5 We have already seen that, as 
a rule, the Israelites believed that the merit and the de- 
merit of one person or generation could be imputed to 
another, and those of one part of the community to the 
entire community. 

§ 25, EETKIBUTIOtf AND THEODICY. 

It clearly follows from the above, and from a consid- 
eration of all the documents of the first two periods, 
that the Israelites believed only in an earthly retri- 

1 liv. 1-10. 2 Num. xvi. 25 ff. ; Josh. 7. 3 2 Sam. xxiv. 

* 2 Kings xxiii. 20 ; xxiv. .°> f. ; Jer. xv. 4. 5 2 Sam. xxi. 1-14. 



234 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

but ion for human actions. There is not, in the writings 
of the prophets, where the punishment of sin on the 
one hand and the hope of future salvation on the other, 
play so great a part, the least trace of the idea that sin 
can be punished and virtue rewarded in another life. 
According to the general opinion of the Hebrews God 
rewards good and punishes evil in this world ; all mis- 
fortune is a divine penalty, incurred by unfaithfulness, 
and all blessing a divine reward, merited by faithful- 
ness ; in a word, there is an exact ratio between mis- 
fortune and guilt, between happiness and merit. 

For a long time these conceptions seem to have 
aroused no serious opposition ; for there is none to be 
met in the oldest documents. But in proportion as the 
events of individual life and of history were more 
clearly observed, and more thoughtfully studied, it was 
perceived that experience constantly contradicted this 
theory of retribution, that many who were wicked were 
happy, and many who were righteous were unhappy. 
Hence arose great perplexity for the one who did not 
close his eyes to evidence, a snare that might cause be- 
lievers to stumble, and throw them into doubt. 1 This 
difficulty made itself felt especially from the Exile 
onward. 2 From that time also the most serious efforts 
were made to overcome it. 

Perhaps the difficulty had been perceived at an earlier 
elate, and the attempt had been made to relieve it by 
saying that God visits the faults of fathers upon their 

i Comp. Isa. v. 18-20. 

2 Jer. xii. 1 ff. ; xviii. 20 ; xx. 18 ; Hab. i. 2 ff., 13 ff. ; Ezek. xviii.. 
25, 29 ; xxxiii. 17, 20 ; Isa. xl. 27 ; lviii. 3 ; Mai. iii. 13 ff. ; Ps. x. 1 ff . ; 
xxxv. 17 ff. ; xliv. 17-26 ; Ixxiii. 1-14; xciv. 1 ff. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 25. RETRIBUTION. 235 

children, and that he rewards children for the faithful- 
ness of their ancestors. 1 It must be admitted that this 
principle finds support in the laAVS of solidarity and 
heredity observed in the experience of every day: chil- 
dren do often suffer for the faults of their parents, or 
profit by their virtues. This principle is especially 
true when it is applied to an entire people considered 
collectively, as for example, the people Israel, since 
succeeding generations generally suffer for the faults 
of those preceding. 

But this comparatively early opinion also aroused ob- 
jections, and gave occasion for the sarcastic proverb, 
"the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the sons' teeth 
have been set on edge." 2 It Avas opposed by the thought 
that each bore the penalty of his own sin. 3 Thus the 
traditional standpoint was maintained, and an explana- 
tion that at least relieved the difficulty raised by it, dis- 
carded. But how was this difficulty from that time 
forward to be solved? It was taught that man has 
no right to contend with God, the creature with the 
creator, the work with him who made it; 4 it was 
asserted that man, far from being righteous, is in 
reality guilty; 5 or perhaps it was maintained that 
the happiness of the wicked is only fleeting, and always 
comes to an unhappy end, while the misfortune of the 
righteous can only be temporary; 6 in some passages 

1 Ex. xx. 5 f. ; Deut. v. 9 f. ; comp. Hos. iv. 6 ; Jer. xxxii. 18. 

2 Jer. xxxi. 29 ; Ezek. xviii. 2. 

8 Jer. xxxi. 30; Ezek. xviii. 3 ff . ; xxxiii. 10-20; Deut. xxiv. 10; 
2 Kings xiv. G. 4 Isa. xxix. 10 ; xlv. 9 f. ; Jer. xviii. G. 

' Ezek. xviii. 29 ff. ; xxxiii. 17 ff. ; Tsa. lviii. 3 ff. 

6 Ps. lxxiii. 1G-24 ; ix. 17 f. ; xxxvii. ; xlix. ; lv. 22 f. ; lxiv. ; xciv. 
8-2:] • Prov. xxiii. 17 f. 



236 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

there appears even the higher idea that misfortune has 
a salutary effect upon man, like that of correction upon 
the child ; 1 finally, in cleutero-Isaiah, occurs the thought 
that the righteous may be called to suffer for the guilty, 
and thus save these latter from merited chastisements. 2 
It may well be that the explanation of chapter liii. of 
Isaiah should be sought in part in the preconceptions to 
which the question of retribution gave rise at the time 
of the Exile. Have we not in this chapter a new solu- 
tion of the problem? The faithful portion of Israel 
suffered innocently: how are these sufferings to be ex- 
plained from the Israelitish standpoint, according to 
which misfortune and sin, happiness and righteousness, 
always balance each other? They are explained on the 
supposition that the faithful portion of Israel expiate 
the sins of the unfaithful. 

The problem of which we are speaking engrossed 
and perplexed Israelitish thinkers to such a degree that 
one of them felt the need of giving it thorough treat- 
ment, and making it the subject of an entire book, — 
that of Job. The following is a rough outline of the 
contents in their connection of this theodicy of the Old 
Testament. Righteous Job is overtaken by great mis- 
fortunes though he has not deserved them, solely that 
his piety may be tested. 3 Here, therefore, is experi- 
ence, in the person of Job, protesting against the old 
theory of retribution. In the long conversations that 
take place between him and his friends, Job gives utter- 
ance to doubts concerning Providence, because he sees 
himself unjustly and severely punished. The three 

i Prov. iii. 11 f. ; Deut. viii. 2-5 ; Lam. iii. 27-30. 
2 Isa. liii. 3 Chaps, i. f. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 25. RETRIBUTION. 237 

friends dispute this claim, and seek to convince Job 
that he has deserved these misfortunes by which he is 
smitten, thus maintaining the traditional opinion con- 
cerning retribution. But he, sure of his innocence, de- 
fends it tenaciously, and successfully repels all the 
objections of his friends. 1 Elihu, a fourth friend, who 
has thus far remained silent, now takes up the discus- 
sion. 2 He also declares that Job is not perfectly inno- 
cent, and reproaches him with his doubts concerning 
divine Providence, "who rendereth to man according 
to his works, and causeth him to find according to his 
ways." 3 On this point he shares the traditional opinion 
defended by the other three friends. But the new feat- 
ures in his discourse are his representation of afflictions 
as a means of trying and correcting man, 4 and his con- 
tention that God is much too great for a feeble mortal 
to be able to comprehend his ways. 5 This latter point 
is taken up and developed more at length by God him- 
self, who replies to Job from the midst of the tempest, 
and calls his attention to the wonders of nature. 6 
Finally Job confesses that he does not at all understand 
the works of God, and admits that man must humbly 
submit to the incomprehensible purposes of the Al- 
mighty. 7 In the epilogue 8 God declares that the first 
three friends have spoken less worthily of him than 
Job, evidently because they have maintained the old 
theory of retribution, opposed by the latter. 

It is clear that the object of the book of Job is to 
refute this theory. It shows that the righteous man 

1 Chaps, iii.-xxxi. 2 Chaps, xxxii. ff. 3 xxxiv. 5 ff. ; xxxv. 1 ff. 
4 xxxiii. 14-30; xxxvi. 7-15. 5 xxxvi. 22-xxxvii. 24. 

c Chaps, xxxviii.-xli. 7 xlii. 1-G. 8 xlii. 7 ff. 



238 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

may also be overtaken by great ills, since they are not 
necessarily merited penalties, but may be simply a 
means of testing his piet} r , as the prologue asserts of 
the afflictions of Job. The book further means to assert 
that it is rash in man to contend with God and wish to 
understand his ways, that the highest human wisdom 
consists in fearing God and fleeing evil. 1 Finalty, 
according to the epilogue, the man who remains faith- 
ful to God, even in the midst of trial, will again be 
delivered and blessed with peculiar favor. 2 The dis- 
courses of Elihu, which, according to many critics, 
originally formed no part of the book, add the idea that 
afflictions are salutary for man, because they help to 
rid him of his faults, and save him from the penalties 
that these faults would bring upon him. Oehler says 
of the book of Job that it presents at the same time all 
the problems that ever engaged the minds of wise Isra- 
elites, and all the solutions of them that they proposed. 3 
This is true at all events of problems of theodicy and 
retribution. All the solutions that it proposes on this 
subject are, in fact, found in other isolated passages 
which have been cited. 

Submission and resignation, even when one does not 
comprehend the ways of God, — such is the last word 
of Israelitish wisdom, respecting the important problem 
under discussion. But to submit without hope, to 
submit without the hope of ever comprehending, of one 
day seeing fall the veil that hides the ways of divine 
Providence, — this cannot satisfy the human mind and 
heart. We feel the need of knowing the object of life 
and of the world, the need of knowing that God does 
everything for the best. 

* xxviii. 28. 2 xlii. 10-17. 3 § 247. 



SECOND PERIOD. — § 25. RETRIBUTION. 239 

The book of Job shows clearly that, on the prime 
question of life, the view of Israelitish wisdom and 
prophetism is unsatisfactory, and that it must be sup- 
plemented by a loftier view, by the evangelical view, 
which opens the prospect of an eternal life and retribu- 
tion. The thought of the future life, and the consola- 
tion that flows from it in misfortune, presented itself, 
indeed, to the mind of our author. 1 But he did not 
dare dwell on it. It appeared to him as a pious desire, 
and not as a well grounded hope. 

1 xiv. 14. 






THIRD PERIOD. 



§ 26. HOLY SOEIPTDBE. 

We have seen that, in the first period, traditional 
ideas and usages exercised a preponderating influence, 
and that in the second, prophetism sought to obtain such 
an influence by opposing the idolatrous or superstitious 
errors and usages of the past; in the third period we 
see formed a collection of sacred books, which hence- 
forward constitutes the supreme authority in matters of 
faith, the fundamental basis of the religious, moral, 
and even national life of the Jews, as the remnants of 
the ancient people Israel are called after the Exile. 

The first reference to sacred writings is in document 
A, which tells us of two tables of stone containing the 
decalogue, 1 and a book of the covenant containing the 
words, the statutes, of Jehovah, written by Moses. 2 But 
these references have not a well established historical 
character, and we find no certain traces of a part played 
and an influence exerted by these documents. The 
prophets, who always preach in the name of Jehovah, 
never appeal to a written law even when they employ 
the term tor ah, which is ordinarily translated law, 
but which denotes rather prophetic or other oral teacli- 

1 Ex. xxiv. 12 ; xxxi. 18 ; xxxii. 15 f. ; xxxiv. 1, 4, 28. 

2 Ex. xxiv. 4, 7. 

241 



242 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ing. 1 A single passage, Hos. viii. 12, where there is 
probably an allusion to the passages cited from docu- 
ment A, mentions the statutes of the law of Jehovah 
written by himself. 

We find no historical trace of a second book until 
toward the Exile. We learn from 2 Kings xxii. f. that, 
in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, there was 
discovered in the temple, where it was the practice to 
deposit writings of an official character, 2 a book of the 
law and the covenant, which was certainly the legal and 
more important part of Deuteronomy. As soon as the 
king had made himself acquainted with the contents 
of this book he caused it to be read to all the people. 
We see from the account that has been preserved to us 
that no such thing had ever before been done, that it 
was new to every one. It is this book to which refer- 
ence is made, 1 Kings ii. 3 ; 2 Kings xiv. 6 and xxi. 
8. It is not probable that from this time forth the law 
was regularly read before the people, for if it had been 
we could not comprehend the profound ignorance of it, 
and the flagrant transgressions against it that show 
themselves in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, among 
all the Jews, even the chief of them. 3 

Ezra probably contributed most to the formation of 
the Pentateuch, which in the Hebrew Bible bears + he 
title Law* and he seems to have given the first impulse 
to a regular reading of this portion of Scripture. He is 
represented to us as a scribe versed in the law, diligent 
in studying it, in putting it into practice, and in teach- 

1 Keuss, Gesch., § 201 ; [W. E. Smith, Old Test., pp. 292 ff.]. 

2 1 Sam. x. 25 ; Deut. xxxi. 26. 

3 Ezra ix. 1 f . ; x. 18 ; Nell, v. 1-5 ; viii. 13 ; xiii. 4-31. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 26. HOLY SCRIPTURE. 243 

ing it to the people. 1 He trained other teachers of the 
law that they might be able to explain it. 2 He caused 
the priests, the Levites, and the leaders of the people 
to solemnly swear that the law should be .observed. 3 
He made them sign a written covenant, based on this 
promise, after having read and explained to them the 
contents of the law. 4 According to this we may sup- 
pose that Ezra was the promoter of public and regular 
readings of the law ; 5 it was, moreover, the only means 
of making it known to all, in accordance with certain 
directions of Deuteronomy, 6 and an injunction of the 
last prophet, a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah. 7 
At that time it was not possible for the great majority 
of private individuals to own a copy of the law. We 
find here, further, the starting point for the worship of 
the synagogues, which consisted chiefly in the reading 
and explanation of the law. In the apostolic age a syn- 
agogue existed wherever there was a Jewish community 
of any size, and the practice of reading Moses every 
Sabbath was very ancient. 8 

From the time of Ezra onward, i.e. after the middle 
of the fifth century before our era, the law of Moses, 9 
or the law of Jehovah, 10 which henceforth or soon after- 
wards we find identified with the Pentateuch, was the 
supreme authority in matters of faith : it is styled holy 
and reverend ; n an infinite value is attributed to it, for it 
is regarded as the source of life ; 12 it is called the incor- 

1 Ezra vii. 6, 10 f ., 21. 2 Neh. viii. 18, 7-9. 3 Ezra x. 3-5. 

4 Neh. viii. -x. 5 Neh. xiii. 1. 

6 vi. 6 f. ; xi. 18-20 ; xxxi. 0-13. 7 Ma i. iv> 4> 

8 Acts xv. 21 ; comp. 2 Cor. iii. 15. 

9 Ezra iii. 2 ; vi. 18 ; Neh. viii. 1. i° Ezra rii. 10. 
11 2 Mace. vi. 23, 28. w Bar. iv. 1 ; Tob. i. 6. 



244 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ruptible light; : it is believed to be able to communicate 
Supreme wisdom; 2 its regulations are observed in the 
most scrupulous manner; 3 death is preferred to trans- 
gression against it; 4 private individuals even possess 
copies of it; 5 great attachment to it is displaj^ed, the 
idea being that this is the most sacred duty that can be 
performed. 6 The greatest favor that the conquerors 
of Palestine can grant the Jews is permission to live 
according to the regulations of the law ; 7 and it is the 
prohibition of the observance of the law, and the decree 
that it be transgressed, which rouse the Jews against 
their oppressors in the days of the Maccabees. Later, 
in the midst of Judaism, it is all regarded as a direct 
revelation from God. It is declared that he who claims 
that it did not come from heaven, will have no part in 
the world to come ; that he avIio says that Moses added 
a single word of his own knowledge, denies and despises 
the word of God. 8 

To this first and oldest collection of the Hebrew 
Bible, the Law, was afterward attached a second, the 
Prophets, which was divided into the former and the 
latter prophets. The former include the historical 
books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings ; the latter, 
the prophetical books properly so called., i.e. all the 
books that we call prophetical, excepting Daniel. 

i Wis. xviii. 4. 2 Sir. xxiv. 23-29 ; xxxix. 1 ff. ; Bar. iii. 12. 

3 Ezra iii. 2; vii. 10, 23; x. 3; Neb. viii. 14 ff. ; x. 29; xii. 44; 
xiii. 3 ; 1 Mace. iii. 56 ; iv. 47 ; 2 Mace. iii. 1 ; vi. 23. 

* 1 Mace. i. 50 ff. ; ii. 29 ff. ; 2 Mace. vii. 5 1 Mace. i. 57. 

6 1 Mace. ii. 19-22, 20-28, 40-48 ; iii. 21 ; iv. 42 ; vi. 59 ; xiii. 3 ; 
xiv. 29 ; 2 Mace. xiii. 10 f. ; Ps. cxix. ' 1 Marc. vi. 59 ; x. 37. 

8 Schiirer, The Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Div. II. 
Vol. I. p. 307. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 26. HOLY SCRIPTURE. 245 

The latest prophets begin to allude to the preaching 
of the earliest. 1 When in still later times prophets 
ceased to arise among the Jews, to the great grief of 
the people, 2 there was felt the need of collecting the 
extant prophetical writings, that it might be possible to 
consult the teaching contained in them, and to possess 
the complete word of God, which was early divided in 
law and prophets. 3 According to 2 Mace. ii. 13, the 
formation of a collection of prophetical books dates from 
Nehemiah, and it seems to follow, from Sir. xliv. -xlix., 
that when this book was written, at the beginning of 
the second century before our era, the first tAvo, and the 
principal, parts of the Hebrew Bible, above mentioned, 
already existed. The collection of the prophets, it is 
true, did not at once enjoy the same authority, and 
never played the same part among the Jews as the law. 
Yet as early as about 130 before our era, the translator 
of Sirach, in his preface, places the law and the proph- 
ets upon the same level, and shows that the author, his 
grandfather, was acquainted with other books of the 
fathers besides these two collections. 

These last also doubtless had a sacred character, and 
probably at its formation became parts of the third 
collection of the Hebrew Bible, which bears the title 
Scriptures, a word which among the church fathers is 
rendered Hayiographa, i.e. sacred Scriptures. We need 
not dwell longer on this third collection, which, 
even in the apostolic age, does not seem to have become 
part of the canon, at least in its whole extent. In the 

1 Ezek. xxxviii. 17 ; Zoch. i. 4 ; vii. 7, 12. 

2 1 Mace. iv. 4(i ; ix. 27 ; xiv. 41 ; Pa. lxxiv. 9. 

3 Zecli. vii. 12 ; Neh. ix. 20. 



246 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

New Testament, Scripture is simply called " the law and 
the prophets," or "Moses and the prophets." 1 Once 
only mention is made of the Psalms along with the law 
of Moses and the prophets. 2 

The letter of Scripture then, among the Jews, was the 
supreme authority in matters of faith, the source and 
norm of religious teaching, and even of civil law, which 
among them as among the early Israelites had an essen- 
tially religious and theocratic character. We find 
traces of the use that was made of Scripture for the 
instruction and edification of the faithful even in a 
number of psalms; 3 we find them especially in the 
Apocrypha. 4 Appeal was made to sacred texts as to a 
divine authority; 5 recourse was had to them as to the 
best source of consolation. 6 

The Jews, as we perceive, became "the men of one 
book." In the place of prophets they had scribes and 
doctors of the law, interpreters of the sacred code; 
biblical texts and exegesis, therefore, took the place of 
vital inspiration. 

i Matt. v. 17 ; vii. 12 ; xi. 13 ; xxii. 40 ; Luke xvi. 16, 29, 31 ; xxiv. 
27; John i. 46 ; Acts xxiv. 14 ; xxviii. 23 ; Rom. iii. 21. 

2 Luke xxiv. 44. 

3 lxxviii. ; lxxxix. ; xcv. ; cv. ; cvi. ; cxiv. ; cxxxii. ; cxxxvi. 

4 Sir. xvi. 7 ft'. ; xvii. 1 ff. ; xxxviii. 5 ; xl. 10 ; xliv. -xlix. ; Wis. 
x. -xii. ; xvi.-xix. ; 1 Mace. ii. 52 ff. ; iv. 9, 30 ; vii. 41 ; 2 Mace. vii. 
6 ; viii. 19 ; xii. 15 ; xv. 9, 22 ; Judith v. 6 ff. 

5 2 Chron. xvii. 9 ; xxiii. 18 ; xxv. 4 ; Ezra i. 1 ; iii. 2 ff. ; vi. 18 ; 
Nell, viii. 1 ; Dan. ix. 2, 11 ; Bar. ii. 2, 20-24, 28 f. ; Tob. i. 6 ; ii. 5 f. ; 
viii. 5 f . ; xiv. 4 f . ; 1 Mace. vii. 16 ff. 

6 1 Mace. xii. 9. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 27. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. 247 

§ 27. THE DOOTKINE OF GOD. 

The idea of God is in many respects the same among 
the Jews as among the Israelites, and the literature of 
the third period contains, with regard to it as with re- 
gard to so many other things, views that we have 
encountered in the oldest literature. It is doubtless 
useless for us to dwell on them a second time. It will 
suffice to notice anything new, characteristic, that this 
period has to offer. 

First of all we must remark the decisive triumph of 
monotheism. Down to the Exile, idolatry was often 
practised by the people and even by their leaders ; after 
the Exile, it completely and forever disappears from 
the midst of the Jewish nation. This is easy of com- 
prehension. The Babylonian captivity was regarded 
as a just punishment for past unfaithfulnesses, and 
particularly of the greatest of all, idolatry. It was, 
moreover, the most zealous among the Jews, those most 
attached to the worship of Jehovah, who returned from 
the Exile, and in the beginning formed a little nucleus, 
clustered about Jerusalem, and having at its head a 
large proportion of priests. Many of the reforms that 
had previously been attempted in vain, under these cir- 
cumstances and from this moment became possible. Now 
the fundamental reform was the decisive triumph, over 
all idolatry, of faith in the only true God, creator of 
heaven and earth, supreme ruler and preserver of the 
entire world. 

A second point to emphasize, with respect to the 
Jews, is their speculative tendency. In the writings 
of the prophets, especially the older, all is spontaneous; 



248 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the pure expression of life, of an intense and profound 
religious faith. It is feeling and imagination that 
dominate in their discussions. It is the richness of 
religious and moral life that gives them their value. 
Among the Jewish people, on the contrary, and espe- 
cially among their spiritual leaders, life and feeling are 
eclipsed by reflection, prophetism gives place to rabbin- 
ism, inspiration to speculation. The doctors who suc- 
ceed the prophets strive much more after the possession 
and dissemination of correct conceptions of God than 
the cultivation of life in God ; they undertake to elabo- 
rate a genuine doctrine of God, a complete system of 
theology, which the prophets never tried to do. 

In the translation of the Seventy, and in the Targums 
or commentaries for which we are indebted to the old 
Jewish doctors, the sense of passages is often warped, 
for the sake of removing whatever was too offensive in 
the theophanies and anthropomorphisms of the Old Tes- 
tament. 1 This tendency is particularly prominent in 
Philo and other Jewish thinkers of Alexandria, who 
were influenced by Greek philosophy. 2 But it is of 
much older date. We find the first traces of it in bib- 
lical literature. There also is seen a disposition to 
exalt God infinitely above all that is earthly, human, 
and imperfect, even above all human conception. 3 
This extraordinary exaltation of the Deity is ex- 
pressed by calling him God of the heavens, 4 or simply 

1 Nicolas, Doctrines relig. des Jitifs, pp. 147 ff. ; Stapfer, Les idees 
relig. en Palestine, 2d ed., pp. 81 ff. ; [Toy, Judaism and Christianity, 
p. 87]. 2 Nicolas, pp. 101 ff. 

3 Eccl. iii. 14 ; v. 2 ; vii. 13 ; xi. 5 ; Sir. xlii. 21 ; xliii. 27 ff. 

4 Jon. i. 9 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 23 ; Ezra i. 2 ; v. 11 f. ; vi. 10 ; vii. 12, 
21, 23 ; Neh. i. 4 f. ; ii. 4, 20 ; Eccl. v. 2 ; Dan. ii. 18 f., 37, 41 ; iv. 37 ; 
v. 23 ; Ps. cxxxvi. 26 ; etc. 



THIRD PERIOD. § 27. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. 249 

Heaven, 1 or the Supreme, the Most-High, a name that 
occurs on every page of Sirach, but which we also 
frequently find elsewhere. 2 

From the idea that God is absolutely incomprehen- 
sible and infinitely exalted flows the other that man can- 
not enter into direct relations with him, that he can 
neither know nor tell what he is, that consequently he 
neither can nor ought to pronounce his name. Lev. 
xxiv. 16 says : " He who blasphemeth the name of Jeho- 
vah shall be punished with death." The Seventy, on 
the contrary, translate : " He who pronounceth the name 
of the Lord shall -be punished with death." In accord- 
ance with this principle in the Hebrew Bible the vowel 
points of the divine name Adlwnay Lord and, in cer- 
tain cases those of the divine name Elohim, are given to 
the word Yhivh in order that the proper name of God 
may not be pronounced or profaned. Even in a number 
of canonical documents later than the Exile, like 
Chronicles, when they do not follow an older source, 
and in certain of the psalms, we find the abstract name 
Elohim preferred where, in the older documents, the 
name Yaliweh is generally found. 3 In the first book 
of the Psalms, 4 which contains the oldest of these relig- 
ious songs, the name Elohim appears only fifteen times 
and Yahweli 272 times ; while in the second book 5 the 
name Yahiveh occurs only thirty times and Elohim 164 
times. Ecclesiastes uses only this latter name. The 

i Dan. iv. 20 ; 1 Mace. iii. 00 ; iv. 10 ; Mark xi. 30 ; Luke xv. 18, 21. 

2 Eccl. v. 7 ; Dan. iv. 17, 24 f., 32, 34 ; v. 18, 21 ; vii. 18, 22, 25, 
27 ; etc. 

3 1 Chron. iv. 10 ; v. 20, 25 ; vi. 49 ; xii. 22 ; xiii. 12 ; xiv. 10, 14, 
10; xv. 15 ; xvi. 1 ; etc. ; comp. especially Ps. xiv. 2, 4 with liii. 2, 4, 
and xl. 13, 10 with Ixx. 1, I. 4 Ps. i.-xli. B Ps. xlii. -lxxiii. 



250 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

later book of Daniel, except in the ninth chapter, also 
carefully avoids the nse of the name Yahiveh. 

This idea that God is infinitely exalted above the 
world, and without direct relations with it, necessarily 
led to the recognition of intermediate beings through 
whom relations might be made possible. Thus arose 
the doctrine of the logos, the word which played sd 
important a part first in Jewish and afterward in 
Christian theology. It took shape under the influence 
of Greek philosophy, which Philo and other Alexan- 
drian Jews sought to reconcile with the biblical teach- 
ing. 1 But its roots reach into the Old Testament. 

This doctrine, it is true, is not found wherever 
the attempt has been made to find it. Traditional 
theology, which claims that the doctrine of the trinity 
is taught throughout the Bible, has maintained that 
the spirit, the word, and the wisdom of God are, in 
a number of passages of the Old Testament, repre- 
sented as hypostases or persons. For the spirit of God 
it finds its chief support in Gen. i. 2, where, at the 
time of creation, the spirit of God is said to have moved 
above the waters; then in Isa. xlviii. 16, where the 
prophet declares that Jehovah and his spirit have sent 
him; finally in Isa. lxiii. 10, where it is asserted that 
the rebellious Israelites grieved the holy spirit of God. 
Respecting the word of God, the most decisive pas- 
sages that it has brought forward are Isa. lv. 11, which 
represents the word of God as executing his will and 
fulfilling his purposes; Ps. xxxiii. 6, which declares 
that the heavens were made by the word of Jehovah; 
Ps. cxlvii. 15, which says that the word of God runs 
i Nicolas, pp. 178 ff. ; Stapfer, pp. 39 ff. ; [Toy, pp. 106 ff.]. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 27. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. 251 

swiftly. As for the wisdom of God, two passages 
have been preferred as citations: Job xxviii. 23 ff., 
where God seems to have met wisdom at the creation, 
and Prov. viii. 22 ff., where wisdom appears as the 
first creature taking part in the creation of all the rest, 
and giving joy to God. 

It is evident that in these passages the spirit and the 
word of God are personified, bnt that these personifi- 
cations must be placed on the same level with others of 
the same kind. Wisdom alone appears as a veritable 
hypostasis, not in the trinitarian sense, for in the pas- 
sage from Proverbs she is represented as a creature of 
God, but more or less in the sense of the Jewish doc- 
trine of the logos, which would harmonize better than 
the Christian doctrine of the trinity with Israelitish 
monotheism. 

This doctrine, more developed, recurs in some apoc- 
ryphal books. In the book of Baruch, and in that of 
Sirach, the wisdom of God doss not as yet appear very 
clearly as an hypostasis ; but in Wisdom doubt is no lon- 
ger possible. In imitation of Job xxviii. 12 ff., the book 
of Baruch says that men generally have not known how 
to find wisdom, 1 but that God knows her; 2 that he has 
given her to Israel, that she has appeared on earth, and 
that she has remained among men ; 3 that she has exercised 
her influence upon the law. 4 According to Sirach she 
is eternally with God. 5 She was created before all 
things else. 6 God created her, saw her, and shed her 
upon all his works. 7 After having left the mouth of 
the Most-High, and having sought in the whole uni- 

1 iii. 12-21. 2 iii. 32 ff. « iii. 36 f. 4 j v . i. 

6 i. 1. 6 J. 4. 7 i. g i 



252 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

verse a place of rest, a stable abode, a field of activity, 
the creator of all things else, and also of wisdom, 
assigned to her as a peculiar abode the people Israel, 
among whom she rules, prospers, performs her work, 
officiating in the sanctuary, imbuing the law, impart- 
ing instruction as prophecy. 1 In other passages wis- 
dom is personified in the same way as in the book of 
Proverbs ; she is thought to direct the man who trusts 
in her and listens to her, that she may lead him to life, 
happiness, the best blessings. 2 

The praise of wisdom is the favorite theme of the 
book of Wisdom, in which it is constantly personified. 3 
Chapter vii. is especially remarkable in this respect, 
because wisdom there, more clearly than anywhere 
else, appears as a hypostasis, as the universal artist en- 
dowed with the spirit and the most varied divine per- 
fections. 4 She is an emanation from the glory of the 
Almighty, the splendor of eternal light, a stainless 
mirror of his activity, the image of his goodness. 5 She 
is one, and she can do all things ; she remains the same, 
and she renews all things. 6 She stands in the closest 
relation to God, who loves her. 7 She sits at his side 
on the throne, 8 she is acquainted with all the works of 
God; for she was present when God created the world, 
and as supreme artist assisted in the creation of all 
things, 9 also in that of man. 10 She knows the past, and 
she foresees the future. 11 Her power extends from one 

1 xxiv. 

2 iv. 11 ff. ; vi. 18 ff. ; xi. 1 ; xiv. 20 ff. ; xv. 2 ff. ; li. 13 ff. ; comp. 
Prov. i. 20 ff. ; viii. 1 ff. ; ix. 1 if. 

3 i. G ; vi. 12 ff. ; viii. 1 ff., 8 if., 10 ff. ; ix. 4, 9 ff. ; x. ; xi. 1. 

4 vv. 21-24. 5 w. 25 f. 6 vv. 27, 23. 7 viii. 3. 8 ix. 4. 
9 ix. 9, 11 ; viii. 5 f. ; vii. 21, 12. 10 ix. 2. n viii. 8. 



THIRD PEIIIOD. — § 28. ANGELOLOGY. 253 

end of the world to the other, and she governs wonder- 
fully all things. 1 She is active in the moral world as 
well as the universe . in general. From generation to 
generation she enters into holy souls, she makes them 
friends of God and prophets, she teaches them to recog- 
nize and fulfil the divine will, and she also procures 
them salvation. 2 She providentially controlled the his- 
tory of the first men, and that of the people Israel. 3 
It is God who sends her from his glorious seat. 4 In- 
asmuch as she performs her work in the physical and 
the moral world she is identified with the spirit of God 5 
w and the word of God, 6 both of whom here also appear 
as genuine hypostases. 

We see that though the Israelites under the influence 
of prophetism did not engage in speculations that could 
serve as a starting point for the dogma of the trinity, it 
is possible to show that speculations of this kind flour- 
ished among the Jews in proportion as they felt the 
influence of Greek philosophy. Here then is where 
this famous dogma has its roots, and not in prophetic 
revelation. 

§ 28. ATOELOLOGY. 

The same reason that led the Jews to make the word 
and the wisdom of God genuine hypostases, intermedi- 
ate beings, through whom the transcendent God com- 
municates with men and acts upon the world, contrib- 
uted also to the development of angelology. This was, 

1 vii. 12 ; viii. 1. 2 vil. 27, 23 ; ix. 1-10. 3 Chaps, x. -xii. 

4 ix. 10. 6 i. 4 IT. ; ix. 17 ; xii. I. 

e ix. 1 f. ; xvi. 12, 26; xviii. L5 IT. 



254 THEOLOGY Or THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

however, only a popular belief without further impor- 
tance. Before the Exile, in fact, there is seldom men- 
tion of angels among the prophets, the best accredited 
representatives of the religion of Israel. From the 
Exile onward, on the contrary, there arises a genuine 
angelology, which takes an important place in the 
Jewish religion, and appears even in some of the last 
prophets. 

In these latter the angels play the entirely new part 
of mediators and interpreters of prophecy. They ap- 
pear in this part in Ezekiel, 1 oftener still in Zecha- 
riah, 2 and especially in Daniel. 3 They play the same 4 
part in 1 Kings xiii. 18 and 1 Chron. xxi. 18. For- 
merly, on the contrary, God communicated his revela- 
tions directly to the prophets. 

In the documents of Hebraism the angels appear as 
simple agents of the Deity, temporarily commissioned 
to make known or execute the will of God. They do 
not bear proper names to distinguish them from one 
another; they are not organized into a hierarchy; they 
all appear to be equal in dignity, and to derive their 
authority only from God. A single text, Josh. v. 
13-15, designates an angel as the leader of the army of 
Jehovah. But it is impossible to infer from this pas- 
sage any precise idea respecting a hierarchical organiza- 
tion of the angels. After the Exile it is different. 
Then the angels are organized as a hierarchy; they 
have leaders designated by proper names ; they are 
classified into various divisions, each of which has 

i ix. 2 ff. ; xl. 3 ff. ; xliii. 5 ff. 

2 i. 8 ff. ; ii. 1 if. ; iii. 1 if. ; iv. 1 ff. ; v. 5 ff. ; vi. 4 ff. 

3 iv. 13, 23 ; vii. 10 ; viii. 13, 15 ff. ; ix. 21 ff. ; x. 5 ff., 15 ff. ; xii. 5 ff. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 28. ANGELOLOGY. 255 

special functions to fulfil, a particular department to 
govern. 

In Ezekiel reference is made to seven angels who 
appear as the principal executors of the judgments of 
God. 1 These seven angels are perhaps the seven eyes 
of God of which Zechariah speaks, 2 and probably the 
leaders or princes of whom Daniel speaks. 3 The book 
of Tobit also speaks of seven principal angels who have 
peculiarly free access to the presence of God, and who 
present to him the prayers of the saints, 4 like the ser- 
vants and the seven leaders who immediately surround 
the king of Persia. 5 It at the same time mentions the 
name of one of these celestial primates or archangels, 
Raphael, 6 who serves as guide to young Tobias, accom- 
panies him to foreign parts, and brings him back to 
his home. The book of Daniel makes us acquainted 
with the names of two other archangels, viz.: Gabriel 7 
and Michael. 8 Other Jewish writings contain several 
others. 9 

The development of angelology that we have just 
noticed appears also in the fact that the Jews attributed 
to the angels the government and protection of the 
various peoples of the earth. In the book of Daniel, 
for example, the angel Michael is represented as the 
leader and protector of Israel, and at the same time ref- 
erence is made to a leader of the kingdom of Persia and 
a leader of Javan. 10 

1 Ezek. ix. 2 iv. 10 ; iii. 9. 3 x. 13. 4 xii. 15 ; comp. Rev. viii. 2. 
5 Esther i. 10, 14. 6 Tob. iii. 10; ix. 5 ; xii. 15. 

7 viii. 10; ix. 21 ; comp. Luke i. 19, 2(5. 

8 x. 13, 21 ; xii. 1 ; comp. Judith ix. ; Rev. xii. 7. 

■' Nicolas, pp. 221 f. ; Stapfer, pp. 53 IT. ; [Toy, pp. 149 ff.]. 
10 x. 13, 20 f. ; xii. 1. 



256 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The version of the Seventy even makes Dent, xxxii. 
8 say that, on the dispersion of the sons of Adam, God 
fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number 
of the angels of God. This is giving to each people 
an angel as a guardian, an idea expressed also by 
Sirach. 1 These celestial protectors 2 waged war with 
one another, each defending the people that had been 
especially confided to him. 3 They constantly watched 
over their charges. 4 

We remark, finally, that angels surround the throne 
of God to execute, under his supervision, judgment 
upon the world. 5 

It follows from the above that angelology was well 
developed in Judaism. The Persian religion doubt- 
less had some influence upon it. 6 But there must also 
have been an internal process analogous to that which, 
in the Catholic church, has more and more magnified 
the saints and their functions. 



§ 29. DEM0N0L0GY. 

Angelology had its roots in Hebraism although it 
did not reach its doctrinal development until later; de- 
monology, on the contrary, had its origin in Judaism. 
We have seen that, in the eyes of the Hebrews, God 
could do evil as well as good, and he did the one or the 
other according to circumstances, by his spirit or through 
other agents, especially his malakh. 

The first passage in which there is a reference to an 

1 xvii. 17. 2 2 Mace. xi. 10. 3 Dan. x. 13, 20. 

4 Dan. iv. 13, 17, 23. 5 Dan. vii. 9 f. ; comp. Zech. iii. 1, 3. 

6 Nicolas, pp. 48 ff., 227 l'f. 



THIRD PERIOD. — §29. DEMONOLOGY. 257 

evil spirit is 1 Kings xxii. 19-23. Jehovah is seated 
on his throne, and surrounded by the whole heavenly 
host. He says to those about him : " Who will mislead 
Ahab?" One replies in one way, another in another. 
Then the spirit approaches, stands before Jehovah, and 
declares that he will go forth to mislead Ahab, becom- 
ing a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. 
This is clone, and the prophet Micaiah says to Ahab: 
"Jehovah hath sent a lying spirit into the mouths of 
all thy prophets." There is, as will be observed, a dif- 
ference between this account and the one that we cited 
in the preceding period concerning the spirit of God. 
The spirit that is here referred to does not seem to be 
a simple poAver or emanation from Jehovah. He belongs 
to a council of personal beings ; he seems himself to be a 
personal spirit. He is called haruach, the spirit, though 
most of the translators omit the article. However, we 
do not by any means find here the notion of Satan. 
The lying spirit belongs to the host of the heavens ; he 
is one of the servants of God. Micaiah says also that 
it is Jehovah who has sent a lying spirit into the 
mouths of all the prophets of Ahab. This spirit is in 
reality the spirit of prophecy. Hence especially the 
article. God, who ordinarily sent it to the prophets 
to communicate to them the truth, now sends it to 
•declare a lie, because this enters into his providential 
purposes. We still have here, therefore, to some extent 
an expression of the old Israelitish view. 

If we pass to the book of Job w r e find in it, with 
respect to the question under discussion, as it were, 
a transitional stage; between Hebraism and Judaism, i.e. 
the beginning of deinonology. Jn the first two chapters 



258 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Jehovah appears surrounded by the sons of God, in the 
midst of whom is Satan. He, with the consent of God, 
puts Job to the proof, sending upon him the various 
misfortunes a with which the reader is familiar. The 
real signification of the word satan is clearly seen in a 
number of passages in which it means adversary. 2, Satan 
appears also as the adversary of Job. 

It is interesting to compare with the Satan of the 
book of Job what we read Num. xxii. 22 and 32. 
Here we see the angel of Jehovah, who is oftenest a 
protecting malakh, playing the part of a satan, an 
adversary. The term satan is used without an article 
as a common noun. In the book of Job, on the con- 
trary, we find ourselves confronted by a person whose 
proper name is Satan, Jias-satan, with the article. As 
will be observed there is an analogy between this being 
and the spirit of whom we spoke above. 

Are we here already confronted by a veritable Satan ? 
Many theologians say no. "It is generally admitted," 
says M. Nicolas, "that this being has none of the 
characteristics that befit a spirit evil by nature. In 
the prologue to this book Satan fulfils the functions 
of a public prosecutor, nothing more. He smites Job 
only by express permission of God, and even then he 
only causes the angels of evil who execute the decrees 
of God to fulfil their office. He is, it is true, pictured 
as having little confidence in human virtue. But he 
does not, of his own motion, seek to lay snares for it, 
and prepare for it some signal overthrow. He is there- 

i i. 6 ff. ; ii. 1 ff. 

2 Num. xxii. 22, 32 ; 1 Sam. xxix. 4 ; 2 Sam. xix. 22 ; 1 Kings v. 
18 ; xi. 14, 23, 25 ; Ps. cix. G. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 29. DEMONOLOGY. 259 

fore not the father of evil, in the proper sense of the 
expression." 1 Haag expresses himself to the same 
effect. 2 It is certain that the Satan of the book of Job 
is not that of traditional theology. He lacks one 
of the chief characteristics of the latter, he is not the 
adversary of God; on the contrary, he is of the number 
of his servants. He seems, however, to be a little 
nearer Satan than Nicolas and Haag would make him. 
He does not resemble a simple public prosecutor to the 
extent of being "personally indifferent to the result," 
as the latter of these scholars expresses it. Is he not 
happy to find Job wanting, to show that his piety is 
purely selfish ? Does he not begrudge him his happi- 
ness? Does he not, with unalloyed malignity, profit 
by the permission to try him? 

In Zech. iii. 1, Satan appears as accuser before God's 
tribunal. But he finds himself sharply rebuked by the 
supreme judge. In this case he plays, in a sense, 
the part of adversary of the kingdom of God, since he 
attacks the high-priest, the most exalted representative 
of the chosen people. Joshua, in fact, is not accused 
on account of his own sins ; he figures in this vision as 
high-priest; it is his sacerdotal garment that is soiled, 
and Satan claims that there is no expiation for the 
people, loaded with sins, and that consequently Israel 
should be rejected. 3 It is, therefore, the opposition 
of God to Satan and reciprocally of Satan to God, that 
appears in this passage. 

The last canonical passage that speaks of Satan is 1 
Chron. xxi. 1. Satan is there said to arise against Israel, 
and incite David to make a census of the people, i.e. to 

1 p. 243 ; [Toy, p. 105]. 2 p. 410. :J Oehler, § 200. 



260 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

act contrary to the will of God, and thus bring upon 
Israel divine penalties. Satan, therefore, here appears 
as the adversary of the people of God and of God him- 
self. This passage, compared with the parallel pas- 
sage, 2 Sam. xxiv. 1, shows us the difference between 
the Hebrew and the Jewish point of view relative to 
the question under discussion. In the older account it 
is God who moves David to make the census ; God is 
therefore still regarded as the sole and supreme author 
of all that happens, of evil as well as good. In the 
passage from Chronicles we find an entirely different 
conception, the fear of bringing reproach upon the 
majesty of God by placing him in immediate contact 
with the world, and especially by attributing evil to 
him; this fear makes it necessary to have recourse to 
the influence of evil spirits to explain the existence of 
evil. 

The Satan of the Old Testament is then not yet the 
prince of this world. We find there, however, the 
starting point of the demonology of later times. We 
have yet, it is true, to consider some canonical passages 
that have often been cited in support of this doctrine. 

Traditional theology has tried to find the devil in 
the serpent of the account of the Fall. This is an error. 
This serpent is a genuine beast of the field, created by 
God. x He is, it is true, a marvellous animal, but he 
is not more wonderful than the trees that, like him, are 
found in the garden of Eden. On a soil that produces 
such trees, the existence of an animal of this sort is 
nothing that should astonish us. In other religions of 
antiquity the serpent, moreover, plays an analogous 

i Gen. iii. 1, 14. 



THIRD PERIOD. § 29. DEMONOLOGY. 261 

part. 1 We entirely agree with Baudissin who says on 
this subject: "The serpent does not here appear as the 
incarnation of any supernatural power. The idea that 
it is Satan who speaks for it has been read into the 
account by later interpretation, it has not been drawn 
from it. Though the serpent speaks it does not, in so 
doing, leave the bounds of the animal kingdom, any 
more than Balaam's ass when it speaks; for the whole 
narrative bears a mythical character. Neither is wick- 
edness attributed to it; but to explain sin, which 
cannot have its origin in man, created good by God, 
the cause of it must be ascribed to some other being. 
None appeared fitter for it than the serpent, which 
inspires aversion in man, and which the Semites re- 
garded as more cunning than the other animals." 2 

The attempt has also been made to find the devil in 
the shedhim, 2, and the se'irim^ as well as in azazel. b 
The exact signification of these terms, which are found 
only in the passages cited, is not easy to determine. 
However, competent modern exegetes no longer admit 
that they denote the devil, but simply species of phan- 
toms, sprites, or evil spirits, that existed only in popu- 
lar belief. 6 Since there is reference to them only in 
some few passages, almost all of recent date, it would 
not be proper to see in them integral elements of. the 
religion of Israel. In several passages the sacred 
authors treat even these imaginary beings as vain idols, 
while the unfaithful Israelites offer them sacrifices. 7 

i Baudissin, I. pp.255 ff. 2 I. p. 200. * Dent, xxxii.17; Ps.cvi.87. 

4 Lev. xvii. 7 ; Isa. xiii. 21 ; xxxiv. II ; 2 Chron. xi. 15. 

5 Lev. xvi. 8, 10 f., 20. 

r ' Sec. Knobel on Lev. xvi. 10; xvii. 7 ; Dent, xxxii. 17; lsa. xiii. 21. 
7 Dent, xxxii. 17 ; Ps. cvi. ■)! ; Lev. xvii. 7 ; 2 Chron. xi. 15. 



262 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

When we pass to the apocryphal books we find, 
Wis. ii. 23 f., the idea that God had created man for 
immortality, that he had made him in his own image, 
bat that the devil, ont of envy, introduced death into 
the world. This is the first time that the tempting 
serpent of the account of the Fall is identified with the 
devil. In the book of Baruch, idols and demons are 
identified. 1 The version of the Seventy, in a number 
of passages, renders the words denoting idols or spec- 
tres, demons.' 1 The demons are thought to prefer the 
desert for their dwelling-place. 3 They are called evil 
spirits. 4 

The book of Tobit gives us the proper name of a 
demon that plays an important part in the narrative ; 
he is called Asmodeus. He is enamored of Sara, 
daughter of Raguel, and slays one after another her 
seven former husbands. 5 But the son of Tobit, by 
the advice of the angel Raphael, puts him to flight, by 
burning, the day before his marriage with. Sara, the 
heart and the liver of a fish, the smell of which the 
demon cannot endure. 6 In Upper Egypt, whither As- 
modeus escapes, he is strangled by Raphael. 7 

We see that demonology was considerably devel- 
oped in the midst of Judaism, and the ground prepared 
for the more complete demonology of later ages. Dual- 
ism, so thoroughly antagonistic to the ancient religion 
of Israel, after the Jews, from the Exile onward, be- 



i iv. 7. 

2 Deut. xxxii. 17 ; Isa. xiii. 21 (Sept. 23) ; xxxiv. 14 ; lxv. 11 ; Ps. 
xcvi. 5 ; cv. 37 (Sept. xcv. 5, and cv. 37). 

3 Bar. iv. 35 ; Tob. viii. 3. 4 Tot>. vi. 8. 5 iii. 8 ; vi. 14. 
6 vi. 8, 15-17 ; viii. 2 f. ' viii. 3. 



THIRD PERIOD. § 30. DEATH AND FUTURE LIFE. 263 

came acquainted with it through the Persian religion, 
seems to have powerfully assisted the development of 
Jewish clemonology. 



§ 30. DEATH AND THE PUTUKE LIPE. 

Of all the questions relating to man the only one 
that we have to treat here is that concerning death and 
the future life. 

Respecting death there exists a twofold view in the 
Old Testament. On the one hand it is regarded as 
something natural; on the other, it appears as the con- 
sequence and the penalty of sin. This can be shown 
even from the first narratives of document A . 

In fact we see God threaten Adam with death in case 
he shall transgress his will, 1 and after the transgres- 
sion execute his threat. 2 But in the same fragment, 
we read that man was taken from the dust of the earth, 
and that he will return to it. 3 Though he represents 
death as at once a penalty and a natural consequence of 
the terrestrial origin of man, our author reconciles this 
twofold view by showing that man would have been able 
to rise to a higher and eternal life by the special grace 
of God, and obedience to his will. Man had the right 
to eat of the tree of life, the tree that communicates 
eternal life, and he lost this right only in consequence 
of his disobedience. 4 Though man was mortal b} r nature 
he could have attained to immortality by his faithful- 
ness to God. In the old fragment, Gen. vi. 1-4, man 

1 Gen. ii. 17 ; iii. :;. 2 (Jen. iii. 10, 22-24. 

3 Gen. ii. 7 ; iii. 10 ; comp. Ps. xc. 3 ; cxlvi. 4. 

4 Gen. ii. 0, 10 ; iii. 22 ft'. 



26J: THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

is called flesh, 1 like the animals, which seems to imply 
the idea that he is mortal by virtue of his physical con- 
stitution. But the same fragment sa} r s that God re- 
duced to a hundred and twenty years the duration of 
human life, which had formerly been much longer, and 
that he did this to punish human perversity. Accord- 
ing to the account of the Fall, man dies because he can 
no longer eat of the fruit of the tree of life. Accord- 
ing to the passage just cited, on the contrary, his days 
are reduced because the spirit of God, the vital princi- 
ple of every thing that exists, will not always remain 
in man. 

The translation of Enoch and Elijah 2 seems also to 
indicate that man was not necessarily subject to death,, 
that death was not inseparable from human nature. 
The same thought recurs in the prophetic declaration 
that foretells the abolition of death under the reign of 
the Messiah. 3 We see, finally, that dead bodies, and 
all that came into contact with them, were regarded as 
unclean and defiled, 4 as things for which God feels 
repulsion, and which he cannot have desired. It also 
follows from a multitude of other passages too numer- 
ous to be cited here that death, while appearing natural, 
is yet, according to the Old Testament as a whole, the 
result and the principal penalty of sin. 

What did the Israelites think of the condition of man 
after death? Though the contrary has often been 
asserted, it is certain that, from remote antiquity, the 
Hebrews believed in the survival of the dead, in a 
future life. This is proven by the practice of invok- 

1 v. 3. 2 Gen. v. 24 ; 2 Kings ii. 3 Isa. xxv. 8 ; comp. xxvi. 19. 
4 Num. v. 2 ; xix. 11 ff. ; Hag. ii. 13. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 30. DEATH AND FUTURE LIFE. 265 

ing the dead, which was so deeply rooted, that in spite 
of repeated and severe prohibitions, it was long main- 
tained in Israel. 1 Though it was forbidden, this was 
not because there was doubt about the survival of the 
dead; but the invocation of the dead was regarded as a 
superstition, and a token of unfaithfulness to Jehovah, 
who alone was to be consulted. It is said that the dead 
"have been gathered with the fathers," with the ances- 
tors, not only in the recent passages of document C, 2 
but also in those of an earlier date. 3 This formula is 
employed even when the dead have not been buried 
with the fathers. Thus Jacob says that he shall go 
down with sorrow to his son Joseph, to the abode of 
the dead, 4 though he believed, that this son had been 
devoured by a wild beast. Is it not also faith in a 
sojourn of the dead where the departed are found again, 
that dictated the words of David on the death of a dear 
child: "I shall go to him; but he will not return to 
me?" 5 Without faith in a future existence the transla- 
tion of Enoch and Elijah would be difficult to explain. 
And then the various resurrections mentioned in the 
Old Testament: 6 are they not incompatible with the 
idea that death is a complete destruction of a human 
being? Though some passages speak of death as de- 
struction, 7 it is so called because it is the destruc- 

1 1 Sam. xxviii. 3, 7 ff. ; Isa. viii. 10 ; xix. 3 ; xxix. 4 ; Deut. xviii. 
11 ; Lev. xix. 31 ; xx. (J, 27 ; 2 Kings xxi. ; xxiii. 24. 

2 Gen. xxv. 8, 17 ; xxxv. 20 ; xlix. 21), 33 ; Num. xx. 24, 2G ; xxvii. 
13 ; Deut. xxxii. 50. 

3 Gen. xv. 15 ; Jud. ii. 10 ; 2 Sam. vii. 12; 1 Kings i. 21 ; ii. 10; 
xi. 21. 4 Gen. xxxvii. '.)'). b 2 Sam. xii. 23. 

G 1 Kings xvii. 21 If. ; 2 Kings iv. 31 IT. ; xiii. 21. 

7 Job vii. S, 21 ; xiv. 10 ; Is;i. xxxviii. IS ; xxvi. 11 ; Ps. xxxvii. 36 ; 
xxxix. 13. 



266 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

tion, the end of the present life, 1 or because the future 
life appears unreal as compared with the present. Ec- 
clesiastes without doubt places man on the same level 
as the beast, and finds that their lot is the same. 2 But 
in this entire book appears a skepticism and a pessimism 
that is not found in any other book of the Old Testa- 
ment. It is therefore unfair to regard the view that it 
expresses as that of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

The abode of the dead is called sheol, a word whose 
etymology is not perfectly certain. It is found even 
in document A. 3 When we examine more closely 
what the Old Testament says about the abode of the 
dead we find that the Israelites had no very definite 
ideas on the subject, that they hardly thought of the 
departed except to represent their condition as a lam- 
entable one. They pictured to themselves sheol as an 
abyss, where man will perish, in a sense, after death; 
for the word abhaddon, a synonym of sheol and of death 
in several passages, 4 means at the same time abyss and 
destruction. This abyss is in the depths of the earth. 5 
It is an insatiable gulf, 6 whence nothing can return. 7 
It is a dark 8 and silent 9 place. It is the region of 

i Job vii. 8-10. 2 iii. 18-21. 

3 Gen. xxxvii. 35 ; xlii. 38 ; xliv. 20. 

4 Job xxvi. 6 ; xxviii. 22 ; Pro v. xv. 11 ; xxvii. 20. 

5 Num. xvi. 30-33 ; Job xxvi. 5 ; Ps. xxx. 3 ; lv. 15 ; lxiii. 10 ; 
Prov. vii. 27 ; ix. 18 ; xv. 24 ; Isa. xiv. 9, 15 ; Ezek. xxvi. 20 ; xxxi. 
14 1, 18; xxxii. 18, 21, 24. 

6 Isa. v. 14 ; Hab. ii. 5 ; Prov. i. 12 ; xxvii. 20 ; xxx. 1G. 

7 Job vii. 9 ; xvi. 22 ; xvii. 13-15. 

8 Job x. 22 ; xvii. 13 ; xviii. 18 ; Jer. xiii. 1G ; Ps. xlix. 19 ; lxxxviii. 
6, 12 ; cxliii. 3 ; Lam. iii. 6. 

9 Isa. xxxviii. 18; Ps. xxx. 9; xxxi. 17; lxxxviii. 10; xciv. 17; 
cxv. 17. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 30. DEATH AND FUTURE LIFE. 267 

forgetf ulness, 1 where nothing is seen, or done more, 2 
where there is no longer even any relation with God, 3 
though self -consciousness, personality, is not lost. 4 
Rich and poor, good and bad, great and small, all men 
there mingle with one another. 5 There is, in fact, no 
retribution after this life. 6 The earth is called "land 
of the living," in contrast with Sheol. 7 Existence in 
Sheol more nearly resembles death than life, it is only 
an apparent life; for the departed are repliaim, i.e. 
shades; 8 it is in a sense a state of perpetual sleep. 9 

It is easy, in view of the above statements, to believe 
that the prospect of the future life had no attraction for 
the Israelites, that it could only fill them with pro- 
found sadness. Death appeared to them without hope ; 10 
it was like the king of terrors ; n it was desirable only 
in extreme misfortune, and to put an end to it. 12 It 
also follows from the above that faith in a future life 
was without any value, and without any religious or 
moral influence, becaues it did not involve the idea of 

1 Ps. lxxxviii. 12. 

2 Job iii. 13, 17 ; xiv. 21 ; xvii. 16 ; Eccl. ix. 5 f., 10 ; Ps. vi. 5. 

3 Ps. lxxxviii. 5 ; Isa. xxxviii. 18. 

4 1 Sam. xxviii. 15 ff. ; Ezek. xxxii. 21 ; Job xiv. 22 ; xxvi. 5 ; 
xxviii. 22. 5 Ezek. iii. 13-19 ; Ps. xlix. 10-14. 

6 Eccl. ix. 5. 

7 Job xxviii. 13 ; Ps. xxvii. 13 ; Iii. 5 ; cxvi. 9 ; cxlii. 5 ; Isa. xxxviii. 
11 ; liii. 8 ; Jer. xi. 19 ; Ezek. xxvi. 20 ; xxxii. 23, 32. 

8 Job xxvi. 5 ; Ps. lxxxviii. 10 ; Prov. ii. 18 ; ix. 18 ; xxi. 10 ; Isa. 
xiv. 9 ; xxvi. 14, 19. 

9 Job iii. 13 ; xiv. 12 ; Jer. Ii. 39, 57. 

10 2 Sam. xiv. 14 ; Job vii. 7 ff. ; x. 20-22 ; xiv. 7-22 ; xvii. 11-10 ; 
Isa. xxxviii. 1 ff., 10 ff.; Ps. cxvi. 3. 

11 Job xviii. 14. 

12 Job iii. 3-5, 21 ; vi. 8 f. ; xiv. 13 ; Isa. lvii. 1 f. 



268 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

a retribution beyond the tomb. God punishes the 
wicked, not after death, but by death, by an unhappy 
and premature death. 1 God blesses the righteous, not 
with everlasting life, but with a long and happy earthly 
existence. 2 The hope of having a numerous posterity, 
and surviving in ones' children is a far fairer prospect 
than that of the future life. 3 

We conclude from the above that it is equally 
wrong to maintain that the Israelites did not believe in 
a future life, or to attribute to them the hope of ever- 
lasting life in the Christian sense, two errors into which 
men have alternately fallen. If faith in eternal life, 
and consequently in a judgment with everlasting re- 
wards and penalties, had been disseminated in Israel it 
would certainly have been introduced into the Penta- 
teuch as a sanction for the law, and into the preaching 
of the prophets as a stimulus to faithfulness. But 
everywhere, even in the most recent legislative and 
prophetical documents recourse is had only to temporal 
promises and threats, to incite to good, or to deter from 
evil. In Israel, in fact, faith in everlasting life was 
not by any means what it has become through the gos- 
pel; it filled with terror and not with hope; it could 
not therefore under the old covenant play the part that 
it does under the new. Moreover it should not be for- 
gotten that in all the documents antedating the Exile, 

1 Gen. vi. f.; xviii. f. ; xxxviii. 7 ; Lev. x. 1 ff. ; Num.xvi. ; 2 Sam. 
xii. 13 f. ; Jer. xxxi. 80 ; Ezek. iii. 18, 20 ; xviii. ; xxxiii. 8 f., 12 f. ; 
Job xi. 20 ; xxiv. 19 ; etc. 

2 Ex. xx. 12 ; Lev. xviii. 5 ; Dent. iv. 1, 40 ; v. 33 ; vi. 2, 24 ; viii. 
1 ; xi. 8 f. ; xxx. 15-20 ; xxxii. 47 ; Amos v. 4, G, 14 ; Hab. ii. 4 ; Ezek. 
xviii. 9, 17, 19, 21 f., 27 f. ; xx. 11 ; xxxiii. 14 ff. ; etc. 

3 Gen. xii. 2 f. ; xv. 2 ff. ; xvii. 4 ; xxvi. 3 f. ; xxviii. 14. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 30. DEATH AND FUTURE LIFE. 269 

this faith appears as a simple popular belief, and no- 
where as an integral part of the religion of Israel. 

The attempt has, however, been made to find a more 
or less evangelical hope of everlasting life, if not in 
all the Israelites, at least in some choice spirits. But 
if it existed it must have shown itself in the prophets, 
the elite of the nation. Now we have seen that, on the 
contrary, it is wanting in the teaching of the proph- 
ets. Let us, however, examine the passages in which 
this statement is believed to find support. 

One of the principal is Job xix. 25-27. But in this 
book there is no lack of passages declaring that man, in 
spite of his righteousness, retains no hope after death. 1 
More than this, the entire book is incomprehensible 
if the author believed in the everlasting felicity of the 
righteous. The problem that is there discussed would, 
in fact, have found in this faith a natural solution, and 
would have completely lost the tragical character with 
which he has invested it. 2 What then is the meaning 
of the passage in question ? It is partially explained by 
xvi. 19-22, where Job, foreseeing that the number of 
his years approaches its end, expresses the hope that 
God will be his advocate, and vindicate him against 
his accusing friends. The same idea is expressed xix. 
2o-27, but in language much more enthusiastic. Job 
there repeats that after his death God will be his aven- 
ger, his defender, to vindicate him against the unjust 
accusations that his friends direct against him. He 
"is convinced that in spite of appearances God Avill in 

1 vii. G f. ; x. 20 f. ; xiv. ; xvii. 13 IT. 

2 Comp. Reuss, Philosophies p. 22; Gesch., § 2:J8 ; Schultz, II. pp. 

Wl\) if. 



270 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the end publicly recognize his innocence, and if he does 
not do so before his death, he will at least do so after- 
ward. . . . He sees beforehand this vindication, his 
heart leaps with agitation in view of this prospect." 1 

It is also maintained that in some passages of Prov- 
erbs, everlasting felicity is promised to the righteous. 
The most important of these passages are xiv. 32 and 
xv. 24. In the former we read that, " The just findeth 
a refuge even in his death," and in the latter that "for 
the wise the path of life leadeth upward, that he may 
shun the abode of the dead which is below." Oehler 
does not think it possible to find here the hope of ever- 
lasting life, because there is no indication that the life, 
which in certain passages of Proverbs is represented as 
the reward of wisdom, is life beyond the tomb. 2 He 
thinks that, in the first of these passages, the author 
speaks perhaps either of the confidence of the righteous 
in extreme danger, or of the hope that animates him, in 
the face of death, touching the future of his posterity 
(such as Jacob expresses, Gen. xlix. 18), or touching 
his own memory (in the sense of Prov. x. 7, which says 
that the memory of the righteous is a blessing). He 
holds that in the second passage there is reference only 
to a long and blissful earthly life, secured by divine 
protection. 3 It should, moreover, be observed that, 
according to the version of the Seventy, the former of 
these passages speaks of the confidence that the right- 
eous may have in his virtue, not of that which he may 
have at the time of death. This proves that the first 
translators did not find in it the hope of everlasting 
felicity. On the latter passage, which says of the wise 

1 Reuss, i.l. 2 ii. 21 f. ; iii. 10 ; x. .30 ; etc. 3 § 243. 



THIRD PERIOD. § 30. DEATH AND FUTURE LIFE. 271 

that the path of life leads upward in contrast with Sheol 
which is below, Reuss remarks that "the ascent of the 
first line is suggested by the descent of the second," so 
that " it is not necessary to think here of immortality." 2 
Finally the attempt has been made to find the hope 
of everlasting felicity in some psalms. It would not 
be surprising if this were the case, since these psalms 
may date from a time when such a hope really existed 
among the Jews. The first of the passages brought 
forward is Ps. xvi. 10 f. : "Thou wilt not abandon my 
soul to the abode of the dead; thou wilt not permit thy 
well-beloved to see the pit. Thou wilt make known to 
me the path of life ; there is fulness of joy before thee, 
there are delights at thy right hand forever." But, 
frankly, we, with many exegetes, see here only the hope 
of being delivered from danger of death, and of tasting 
the delights of communion with God, which for the 
psalmist is the highest good. 2 As for the expression 
"forever," it should not be pressed to the extent of 
finding in it everlasting duration, since expressions of 
this kind in the Old Testament often have only a very 
restricted and relative signification. Another passage 
that should be taken into account is Ps. xlix. 15, where 
we read: "God will save my soul from the abode of 
death, for lie will take me," which perhaps means he 
will take me, like Enoch, to himself. Many exe- 
getes, however, deny that in this passage there is refer- 
ence to the hope of everlasting life. Reuss, in favor 
of this opinion, brings forwards number of considera- 
tions that have weight. In any case, the text, consid- 
ered in itself, might, like others of the same kind, 
1 Reuss, i.l. 2 v. 2. 



272 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

mean that God will save the psalmist from death. 
But when the context is considered, when it becomes 
apparent that verse 15 is contrasted with the verses 
preceding, which say of those who perish that they are 
placed in the abode of the dead, and that death makes 
them his pasture, 1 — this would lead us to think that 
there is here reference to a salvation beyond the tomb. 
It remains to consider Ps. lxxiii. 24-26. Here also in 
contrast with the wicked, who are overthrown, destroyed, 
annihilated by a sudden end, 2 the psalmist hopes that 
he will be exalted to glory, and have God for his 
portion forever, when even his flesh and his heart are 
decayed. In this, as in the preceding passage, the 
author aspires to be united with God, to obtain gloiy 
and felicity forever; consequently he expresses some 
hope of obtaining this favor. But none of these pas- 
sages expresses a full and complete confidence in ever- 
lasting salvation. 

The first and the only canonical passage in which such 
a hope is confidently asserted is Dan. xii. 2 f., where we 
read : " Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth 
will awake, some to everlasting life, and others to shame, 
to everlasting disgrace. Those who have had under- 
standing will shine like the brightness of the heavens, 
and those who have taught the multitude righteousness, 
will shine like the stars for ever and ever." Here the 
idea of everlasting life is expressed with all the clear- 
ness to be desired, and with it the idea of the resurrec- 
tion of the dead, of a fifture retribution, of everlasting 
punishments for the wicked, and eternal felicity for 
the righteous. It should, however, be noticed that 
i vv. 7-14. 2 w. 16 ff. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 30. DEATH AND FUTURE LIFE. 273 

there is no reference in Daniel to a universal resurrec- 
tion. A part only of those who sleep will awake. It 
is probable that to the mind of the author, the favor of 
a resurrection is reserved for the Jews only. 1 Faith in 
the resurrection of the dead is also expressed in the 
second book of Maccabees, 2 where we see that prayers 
for the dead early begin to be united with this faith. 3 

The question has been much discussed, through what 
foreign influence the Jews attained to the idea of the 
resurrection of the dead; but this discussion has not 
issued in perfectly reliable results. 4 For biblical theol- 
ogy it is more interesting to show that the germs of 
this doctrine exist in some prophetical passages, and 
that it may have arisen in the midst of Judaism with- 
out foreign influence. The prophets had always fore- 
told the destruction, the death of Israel, as a punishment 
for their sins. 5 But they could not admit their com- 
plete annihilation. Hence the frequently expressed 
idea of a remnant that will abide after the divine judg- 
ment and penalties, and form a new people of God, in 
a new era. This restoration is by several prophets 
represented as a resurrection of the destroyed people. 6 
Now the idea of collective resurrection could easily lead 
to that of individual resurrection, which seems to break 
forth, Isa. xxvi. 19. 

The germs of this doctrine, which we have just shown 

1 Ilitzig and Reuss, i.l. 

2 vii. 9, 11, II, 23, 20, 30 ; xii. 13 ff.; xiv. 40. 3 xii. 43 ff. 

4 Nicolas, pp. 325 ff. 

5 1 1 os. vi. 5; ix. 0; xiii. 1; Tsa. i. 4-0; Mic. iii. 12; Dent. xxx. 
15 ff. ; Jer. iv. ; Ezek, xxxiii. 11 ; Lam. ii. 17. 

11 Bos. vi. 1-3; xiii. 14; Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14 ; Isa. xxvi. 18 f. ; lxv. 
17-19. 



274 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

to have existed in the teaching of the prophets, appear 
to have been developed especially during the sore perse- 
cutions that were directed against the Jews by Antio- 
chus Epiphanes ; this, in fact, is the epoch at which it 
presents itself to us in the book of Daniel. "The 
feverish expectation of the end, a hatred of oppression 
that was not satisfied by the prospect of a temporal and 
fleeting vengeance, above all the conviction that eter- 
nal righteousness could not allow the countless victims 
who died for their God and their faith, to fall un- 
rewarded, all these causes finally gave rise to the belief 
in the resurrection of the dead, and a judgment beyond 
the tomb." 1 This belief, then, appears as a product of 
messianic hopes, and faith in divine justice. 2 

Along with the doctrine of the resurrection of the 
dead, which arose and was developed among the Pales- 
tinian Jews, we see the doctrine of the immortality of 
the soul take shape among the Jews of Alexandria. 
It appears for the first time in one of our apociyphal 
books, viz. in Wisdom. The author seems to have 
been forced to emphasize this thought by epicureanism, 
which denied the future life, and had for a device : Let 
us eat and drink for to-morrow we shall die. 3 Accord- 
ing to this book souls pre-exist, 4 and are confined in the 
body as in a prison ; 5 God in creating man in his own 
image, created him to be imperishable, immortal, 6 as 
he did all other things ; 7 he did not make death, and he 
finds no pleasure in seeing the living perish; 8 death 

1 Reuss, Apocalypse, p. 8. 

2 Reuss, Theol. Chret., I. pp. 76 f. ; Nicolas, pp. 355 ff. ; Seinecke, 
Gesch. des Volkes Israel, PP- 144 f. ; [Montefiore, Lectures, p. 456]. 

3 ii. 1-20. 4 viii. 19 f. 6 ix. 15. 6 ii. 23. 7 i. 14. 8 i. 13. 



THIRD PERIOD. § 30. DEATH AND FUTURE LIFE. 275 

entered the world through the envy of the devil, 1 but 
righteousness is not subject to death; 2 observance of 
the divine ordinances gives assurance of immortality, 
and immortality assimilates to God ; 3 the souls of the 
righteous are in the hands of God, — fools only can 
believe that they die, — their hope is immortal; after 
having passed through the crucible of trial, they shine, 
they judge the nations, they govern the peoples ; 4 thus 
the righteous will live forever. 5 The wicked seem to 
be condemned to death, to annihilation. 6 On the other 
hand, however, there are signs of a belief that they 
also live forever, and that they even know the lot of 
the righteous. 7 For, "in the language of our author, 
the term dead already has the figurative signification in 
which we find it used in the New Testament, viz. that 
of damnation, the absolute want of felicity." 8 These 
ideas are still further developed by Philo, from whose 
writings it clearly appears that they were borrowed 
from Plato. 9 

Once more, in conclusion, we notice the difference 
that in the beginning existed between the doctrine of 
the resurrection of the dead and that of the immortality 
of the soul, since confounded in Christian dogmatics. 
The doctrine of the resurrection, which is more espe- 
cially Jewish and theological, started from the idea that 
God is able to restore the dead to life. 10 The more phil- 
osophical doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which 

1 ii. 24. 2 i. 15. 3 vi. 18 f. ; viii. 17 ; xv. 3. 

4 iii. U-9. 5 v. 15 f. 6 i. 15 f.; iii. 10-10 ; iv. 10 ; v. 14. 

7 v. 1-13. 8 Reuss, Philosophie, p. 510. 

8 Nicolas, pp. 318 ff. ; comp. Una- pp. 121 f. ; von Colin, § 108; 
[Kuenen, Religion of Tsrael, [II. pp. 196 IT.]. 

10 See 2 Mace. vii. 2.*> ; com]). Nicolas, p. -VJ.7. 



276 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

sprang from the school of Plato, reckoned immortality 
among the attributes of the soul. According to it the 
soul, being imperishable by nature, cannot die, does not 
need to be revived, recreated, to attain to everlasting 
life. By death it is delivered from the prison of the 
body; it flees to the celestial regions, and naturally 
partakes of life everlasting. The Greek doctrine of 
immortality is therefore absolutely independent of the 
Jewish doctrine of the resurrection. They were at 
first two separate currents, starting from two different 
sources. But the Christian teachers, nourished at the 
same time by Jewish theology and Greek philosophy, 
united the two currents, combined the two doctrines. 

§ 31, LEVITISM, 

Judaism is, in some respects, the reverse of prophet- 
ism as it appears in its most illustrious representatives. 
The latter attributes the greatest importance to the 
moral life and law, and subordinates to them all the ex- 
ternal practices of religion. After the Exile, on the 
contrary, a capital importance was attributed to the 
purely ritualistic Levitical laws and external worship. 
It is no longer the spirit and the life that play the 
principal part as in the prophets, but form and cere- 
mony. Compared with prophetical spiritualism, Juda- 
ism represents the formalistic tendency. This is the 
reason why we shall speak of Levitism and all that is 
connected therewith, before speaking of the moral life. 

Ezekiel marks the first decisive step towards the 
triumph of Levitism. In most of his discourses, it is 
true, the prophetical spirit is still felt. But there is a 



THIRD PEEIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 277 

part of his book, beginning with chapter xl., that has 
not its like in any earlier prophet. This portion de- 
scribes the restoration of Israel from the Levitical point 
of view. Instead of making the essence of piety and 
the hope for the salvation of Israel the conversion of 
the heart, the knowledge of God, the practice of the 
duties of justice and charity, the prophet here bases the 
grandest expectations upon the priesthood and external 
worship. Ezekiel was at once a priest and a prophet; 
so also his book is the expression both of prophetism 
and Levitism. 

The fragment, Lev. xvii. -xxvi., which perhaps origi- 
nated with Ezekiel or one of his disciples, also indi- 
cates a two-fold current. In chapters xviii. -xx. moral 
laws predominate. In the other chapters, on the con- 
trary, are found almost only ritualistic laws. 

The prophets who arose after the Exile, and who by 
the way were few in number, were all partly influ- 
enced by the Levitical spirit. Haggai gives his atten- 
tion almost exclusively to the restoration of the temple. 1 
He attributes unusual importance to the part of the 
high-priest Joshua. 2 In Zechariah the same preposses- 
sions recur. 3 But the Levitical tendency manifests 
itself especially in Malachi. He calls the priest a 
messenger or angel of Jehovah. 4 The first and greatest 
breach of loyalty that he notices is the presentation of 
unclean victims. 5 Conversion and faithfulness toward 
God in his eyes amount to the regular payment of 
tithes. 6 

This tendency issues in document C, whose legisla- 

1 i. f. 2 i. 1, 12 ; ii. 2, 4. 3 iii. 1-8 ; iv. 1 ff., 14 ; vi. ff. 

4 ii. 7 ; comp. Eccl. v. 0. 5 i. 0.-14. ° iii. 7-10. 



278 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

tion has for its sole object the regulation, to the least 
details, of all that relates to the sanctuary, the priest- 
hood, sacrifices, Levitical purity, religious feasts, offer- 
ings, the hierarchical division of the priesthood and 
the people. 1 Even the historical setting of this docu- 
ment betrays a Levitical tendency. With the account 
of creation is connected the institution of the Sabbath; 2 
with that of the deluge, the prohibition against eating 
blood ; 3 with that of the covenant made with Abraham, 
the practice of circumcision ; 4 with that of the exodus 
from Egypt, the institution of the passover. 5 Other 
narratives of this document are intended to glorify the 
priesthood, or inculcate the strict observance of the 
ceremonial laws. 6 Thus Wellhausen could say that in 
this document the essential thing is that the sacrifices 
be offered according to the regulations: at the lawful 
place, at the lawful time, by the lawful persons, and 
according to lawful procedure. 7 Reuss has said less 
justly that the important thing is not the purit}^ of the 
heart, but that of the body and of dishes. 8 

This legislation Ezra and Nehemiah sought to apply, 
to realize in practical life. Their reform affects chiefly 
the external side of religion; they give the greatest 
care to the re-establishment of worship, and the strict 
observance of all the Levitical usages. 9 The Chroni- 
cles everywhere take for granted that the legislation of 

1 Ex. xxv.-xxxi. 17 ; xxxv. -xl. ; Lev. i. -xvi. ; xxvii. ; Num. i. -x. ; 
xv. ; xviii. f. ; xxviii. -xxx. ; xxxv. 2 Gen. ii. 2 f. 

3 Gen. ix. 4. 4 Gen. xvii. ft 5 Ex. xii. 1 ff. 

e Lev. x. 1 ff. ; Num. xv. 32 ff. ; xvi. 1 ff. ; xvii. 1 ff. 

7 History, p. 424. 8 Gesch., § 370. 

9 Ezra iii. 3-7 ; vi. 16-22 ; viii. 15-30 ; x. 17 ff. ; Neh. viii. 14-18 ; 
x.-xiii. 



THIRD PERIOD. § 31. LEVITISM. 279 

document C has been in force since the clays of Moses, 
and nothing appears to their author more worthy of 
mention than details relating to Levitical worship, and 
especially those that magnify the priesthood. Accord- 
ing to these books God grants his special blessing 
to those who observe the Levitical regulations, and 
severely punishes those who transgress them. 1 

This Levitical and formalistic tendency only grew 
with time, and it manifested itself in a thousand differ- 
ent ways. Fasting, mourning, tears, sacrifices, absti- 
nence from unclean foods, observance of holidays, whose 
number is always increasing, constantly take higher 
and higher rank in Jewish piety. 2 Righteousness 
largely consists in this purely external piety. 3 The 
profanation of sacred things, a blow aimed at the Leviti- 
cal regulations, — these are regarded as abominations. 4 
Even prayer takes a formalistic character. 5 Thus Eccle- 
siastes already feels the need of opposing vain repeti- 
tions in prayer. 6 

Having thus, in a general way, described the devel- 

i 1 Chron. vi. 31 ff., 48 ff ., 54 ff. ; ix. 10-34 ; xiii. ; xv. f.; xxii. -xxvi. ; 
xxviii. f. ; 2 Chron. ii.-vii. ; viii. 12-1(3 ; xi. 13-17 ; xiii. 9-15 ; xvii. 7-9 ; 
xix. 8-11 ; xx. 3, 21 f. ; xxiii. f. ; xxvi. 16-21 ; xxix. -xxxi. ; xxxv. 

2 Ezra viii. 21, 23 ; x. 1, 9 ; Neh. i. 4 ; ix. 1 ; Esther iv. 3, 16 ; ix. 
19-32 ; Dan. i. 5-10 ; ix. 3 ; x. 3, 12 ; Bar. i. 5, 10 ; Tob. i. 0-8, 10-12 
xii. 8 ; 1 Mace. ii. 32-38, 46 ; iii. 47 ; iv. 47-59 ; 2 Mace. i. 8 f., 18-30 
iii. 31-33; vi. 0-11 ; vii. ; viii. 20-28 ; xii. 31 f., 38, 43; xiii. 12, 23 
Judith iv. 9-15 ; viii. ; ix. 1. 

3 Tob. i. 2 f. ; xii. 8 f. 

- 1 Ps. lxxiv. 3 ff. ; Dan. v. ; vii. 25 f. ; viii. 11-14 ; ix. 27 ; xii. 11 
1 Mace. i. 15, 21-28, 37, 41-64 ; iii. 48-51 ; iv. 30 ff. ; vi. 7 ; 2 Mace 
iii. 18 ff. ; iv. 13-17 ; v. 15 f. ; vi. 1-7, 18 IT. ; xii. .'59-42 ; xiii. 8; xv 
1-5, 18, 32 f. ; Judith iv. 2 f. ; viii. 21 ; ix. 8. 

5 Dan. vi. 10 ; 2 Mace. iii. 19-21 ; 3 Mace. i. 18 ; ii. 1. G v. 1. 



280 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

opment and the triumph of Levitism, it is time to 
consider in detail the result of this influence upon 
worship. 

I. The Sanctuary. 

We have seen how, in the first two periods, the 
multiplicity of places of worship which corresponds to 
a natural and legitimate need of the religious senti- 
ment, favored idolatry and necessitated the centraliza- 
tion of worship, and how the way was prepared for this 
change, and it was partially accomplished by the erec- 
tion of the temple at Jerusalem, the overthrow of the 
kingdom of the ten tribes, the discovery of Deuteron- 
omy and the reform of Josiah, finally and especially by 
the Babylonian captivity which forever put an end to 
the constantly reviving idolatry of Israel. 

In the documents of our period that give attention to 
this question it is not thought necessary to defend the 
centralization of worship against the worship of the high- 
places, as does even Deuteronomy. Ezekiel represents 
such centralization as a thing to be taken for granted. 1 
It is the same with Haggai and Zechariah. 2 Other 
documents go farther. The centralization of worship 
appears in them not only as an accomplished fact but 
as something that has existed ever since Moses. This 
appears even in chapters xvii. - xxvi. of Leviticus, and 
especially in the legislation of document C. This doc- 
ument, and Chronicles as well, presents the past in an 
altogether ideal light. They both transfer to remote 
ages what exists in the present, or even what their 

1 Chaps, xl.-xliii. 2 Hag. i. f. ; Zech. iv. 9 f. ; vi. 12 f. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEV1TISM. 281 

authors would like to see exist. It is therefore not 
history that is to be sought in them, but the expression 
of the religious ideas of the time when they were edited. 
Let us see what were these ideas respecting the sanc- 
tuary. 

Document C describes in detail the construction of 
the tabernacle of the desert, as well as the furniture 
and the utensils required for worship. 1 The impossi- 
bility of rearing such a sanctuary in an utter desert was 
long ago demonstrated. Moreover, not the least trace 
of it has been found in early documents. 2 The Chroni- 
cles, in which document C is already regarded as his- 
tory, alone speak of it. 3 But we have more to do than 
simply to establish this negative result. We must 
inquire after the religious thought that the authors of 
the narratives that speak of this sanctuary intended to 
express. 

The principal idea that the Israelites always con- 
nected with the places of worship is that Jehovah is 
present at them. Since he is king of his people he 
must reside in the midst of them. Now his peculiar 
residence is the sanctuary. This idea is expressed 
even in the old song, Ex. xv. In vv. 17 and 18 the 
mountainous country of Canaan is called the heritage 
of Jehovah, into which he will lead his people, and the 
sauctuaiy, doubtless that of Zion, the abode that he has 
prepared. It is also said that Jehovah is king forever, 
evidently in the midst of his people, where he resides 
and exercises his sovereignty. Elsewhere Jehovah in 
his office of king of Israel dwells in the midst of the 

1 Ex. xxv. ff. ; xxxv. ff. 2 Wellhausen, History, pp. -'50 i'f. 

3 1 Chron. xvi. 39; xxi. 29; 2 Chron. i. 3 IT. 



282 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

people, and especially in the temple, his peculiar resi- 
dence, his throne, or more generally in Mount Zion and 
at Jerusalem. 1 Isaiah, in a vision, sees Jehovah, the 
king, seated on his throne in the sanctuary. 2 

In very many passages, to betake one's self to the 
sanctuary is synonymous with presenting one's self 
before Jehovah, and whatever is or is done at the sanc- 
tuary is or is done before Jehovah. 3 Consequently the 
sanctuary is called the abode of Jehovah. 4 

This fundamental thought of the religion of Israel, 
document C connects with the portable sanctuary, 
which it expressly calls the abode of Jehovah, 5 or more 
briefly the abode. 6 It says that there, and more espe- 
cially over the ark, between the two cherubim, is where 
Jehovah prefers to dwell, in the midst of his people, 
and meet them, particularly Moses, to give them his 
commands. 7 Since the place for the ark was in the 
holy of holies, 8 this was more especially the abode of 
Jehovah. Moreover, this is nothing new. Even in 
document A Jehovah appears to Moses, and speaks to 
him in the tabernacle. 9 According to other old passages, 
Jehovah sits above the ark of the covenant between the 

1 Amos i. 2 ; Isa. viii. 18 ; xii. ; xxiv. 23 ; Mic. iv. 7 ; Jer. iii. 17 ; 
viii. 19 ; Zeph. iii. 14 f. ; Hab. ii. 20 ; Ezek. xliii. 7 ; Joel iii. 1G f. ; 
Ps. xxiv. 3-10 ; xlviii. 2 f. ; lxviii. 24. 2 Isa. vi. 1, 5. 

3 Ex. xxiii. 17 ; xxxiv. 23 f. ; Josh, xviii. 8, 10; Jud. xi. 11 ; xx. 1, 
23, 26 ; xxi. 2, 5, 8 ; 1 Sam. x. 3, 17 ; xi. 15 ; xv. 33 ; xxi. f.; 2 Sam. 
v. 3; xxi. 7, 9 ; Deut. xii. 12 ; xiv. 23, 20 ; xvi. 11, 10 ; xxvi. 5, 10 ; 
xxxi. 11 ; etc. 4 Deut. xii. 5 ; 1 Kings viii. 13 ; Zech. ii. 13. 

5 Lev. xv. 31 ; xvii. 4 ; Num. xvi. 9 ; xvii. 13 ; xix. 13 ; xxxi. 30, 
47 ; Josh. xxii. 19. 6 Ex. xxvi. 1, 0, 12 f., 15 ; etc. 

7 Ex. xxv. 8, 22; xxix. 42-4G ; xxx. 0, 30; Num. v. 3; vii. 89; 
xvii. 4. 8 Ex. xxvi. 33. 

9 Ex. xxxiii. 7-11 ; xxxiv. 34 f. ; Num. xii. 5 ff. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 283 

cherubim. 1 Finally it is said that, in the temple of 
Solomon, the ark was placed in the holy of holies. 2 

Document C, in a fashion very characteristic, ex- 
presses the idea of the presence of Jehovah in the midst 
of his people, by the order of encampment that it pre- 
scribes, during the journey through the desert. The 
portable sanctuary is to form the centre of the camp; 
to the tribe of Levi is assigned the immediate neigh- 
borhood of the sanctuary; beyond them, on all sides, 
encamp the other tribes, in a perfectly symmetrical 
arrangement. 3 Those who consider this narrative with 
historical discrimination can see in it only a fiction. 
An encampment so regular, during the entire journe}^ 
through the desert, was physically as impossible as the 
preparation of the magnificent tabernacle with all its 
accessories. Thus it is necessary to see in it only the 
symbolical expression of religious ideas presented in 
the form of history. This camp in the desert repre- 
sents the people Israel, in the midst of whom Jehovah 
dwells, in the tabernacle, his residence, immediately 
surrounded by the sacerdotal tribe, the only one that 
has the right to be in direct relation with him, and the 
one that serves as an intermediary between him and the 
people. 

It is only necessary to have called attention to the 
principal religious thought, which in Israel was con- 
nected with the sanctuary. For the details of the tab- 
ernacle and the temple we refer tlio reader to archaeology. 
Traditional typology lias tried to find profound thoughts, 
revelations, predictions, in all the details of the Israel- 
itish sanctuaiy, and especially of the tabernacle so 

1 1 Sam. iv. 1 ; 2 Sum. vi. 2. -' 1 Kings viii. C f. ;: Num. ii. 



284 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

minutely described in document C. 1 But these mysti- 
cal and often eccentric interpretations have no founda- 
tion in the Scriptures. Antiquity proceeded in this 
respect with extreme simplicity. Moreover, if the 
author of document C had really attributed to the sanc- 
tuary and its different parts the significance that some 
have believed to be found in them, he would have said 
so distinctly and even repeatedly in order to attract 
attention to it, as he does Ex. xxxi. 12-17 with refer- 
ence to the significance of the Sabbath. 2 The best 
proof that the ancients were not devoted to this mysti- 
cal typology, so much cultivated in later times, is that 
Solomon had the work on the temple done and the vari- 
ous sacred objects fashioned by foreign laborers and 
artists, 3 who certainly had no profound knowledge of 
the religion of Israel, and knew still less of the Chris- 
tian religion, which an attempt has been made to find 
symbolized in the sanctuary of the old covenant. Doc- 
ument A says nothing at all of the way in which the 
tabernacle was constructed, which proves that it attrib- 
uted no importance to the matter. Afterward, it is 
true, the opinion spread that the temple, like the. 
tabernacle, and the sacred objects in general, had been 
made in accordance with divine instructions. 4 But 
this view, represented by document C and Chronicles, 
is of recent date, and it was inspired by the exaggerated 
value that was placed upon external worship, and all 
that contributed to worship, after the Exile. It is easy 

1 Winer, Bealworterbuch, art. Stiftshutte ; Knobel, Exodus u. Leviti- 
cus, pp. 251 ft; [Smith, Dictionary, art. Tabernacle] . 

2 Knobel as above, p. 253. 3 . 1 Kings v. 18 ; vii. 13 ff. 
4 Ex. xxv. 9, 40 ; 1 Chron. xxviii. 19. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 285 

to understand liow those who close their e}^es to the 
surest results of criticism, and believe that God gave 
the pattern of the tabernacle to Moses and that of the 
temple to David, are led to seek in these sanctuaries as 
wholes, and in each of their details, divine thoughts, 
mysteries of revelation. But as the early documents 
say nothing of the kind, and these teachings are found 
only in late documents, which generally present ancient 
history in a very ideal and unhistorical light, we cannot 
adopt this course. 

IT. The Priesthood. 

We have seen above that the liberty originally per- 
mitted every head of a family to perform sacerdotal 
functions, was little by little limited on account of the 
abuses that it occasioned, and that the tribe of Levi, 
from which the priesthood was from early times largely 
recruited, by the legislation of Deuteronomy, obtained 
the exclusive privilege of performing these functions. 
But we have not fonud before the Exile any important 
difference in the various priests, any religious hie- 
rarchy of the priesthood, much less any classification 
of the tribe of Levi into different divisions of sacred 
persons. According to Deuteronomy, as we have said, 
all the Levites were still priests, and all priests of the 
same rank. This state of things was greatly modified 
from the date of the Exile. 

Here, again, it is Ezekielwho gives the first impulse. 
He makes no mention of the high-priest, it is true; 
but he establishes the distinction between priests and 
Levites. It should, however, be observed that lie es- 
tablishes it only in the Legislation which he proposes 



286 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

for the future ; lie speaks of it, therefore, as something 
that does not exist, and not as something of the past or 
the present. According to him the sons of Zadok 
alone of all the descendants of Levi, are to exercise the 
priestly functions. 1 He excludes from it first, strangers, 
the uncircumcised, and that in terms proving that pre- 
viously even they were employed in the service of the 
sanctuary. 2 Further he excludes from it the unfaith- 
ful Levites, who had devoted themselves to idolatry, 
and assigns to them the inferior service of the sanctu- 
ary. 3 We find here, as in 2 Kings xxiii. 9, where there 
is also reference to a degradation of unfaithful priests, 
the historical reason why a part of the Levites were 
excluded from the priesthood, and the starting point 
for the distinction between priests and Levites. 

The legislative programme of Ezekiel proves that, 
during the Exile, the ground was prepared for a new 
ecclesiastical legislation, forbidding the assumption of 
the priesthood to simple Israelites, and even making a 
selection in the tribe of Levi. In document C, in fact, 
the right to offer sacrifices is granted to Aaron and his 
sons exclusively forever. 4 Any other Israelite, even a 
Levite,.who presumes to perform sacerdotal functions 
is threatened with death. 5 The priests are several times 
called simply sons of Aaron. 6 They alone are to bless 
the people 7 and approach God. 8 Over them is a high- 

i xl. 40 ; xliii. 10 ; xliv. 15 ft; xlviii. 11. 

2 xliv. 7-0. 3 xliv. 10-14 ; comp. xlviii. 11. 

4 Ex. xxviii. 1, 41 ; xxix. 0, 44 ; xl. 13-15 ; Num. iii. .°>. 

5 Num. iii. 10, 38 ; iv. 15, 20 ; xviii. 3, 7. 

6 Lev. i. 5; ii. 2 ; iii. 5, 13 ; vi. 14 ff. ; vii. 10, 33. 

7 Num. vi. 23 ; comp. Lev. ix. 22. 

8 Num. xvi. 5 ; comp. iv. 19 f. 



THIRD PERIOD. § 31. LEVITISM. 287 

priest, or anointed priest. 1 All the Levites who are not 
descended from Aaron are placed under the command of 
Aaron and his sons, to perform the inferior service of 
the sanctuary. 2 And just as no Levite can off er sacrifice 
without being punished with death, so no layman can 
meddle with the service of the Levites without suffer- 
ing the same penalty. 3 The high-priest can come into 
immediate contact with God, in the holy of holies of 
the sanctuary, only at the great feast of atonement; 
he is threatened with death if he transgresses this com- 
mandment. 4 

According to this legislation, therefore, God with- 
draws himself completely from the eyes of his people, 
from whom a triple sacerdotal barrier separates him. 
The high-priest alone has the right to approach God, 
and he only once a year. " In him alone Israel comes 
into immediate contact with Jehovah, at one point, for 
one moment: the summit of the pyramid touches 
heaven." 5 This tendency to raise an insurmountable 
barrier between Jehovah and the common people has 
its rise in ancient Israel. But it was long held in 
check by the powerful current of prophetism, which 
granted to every Israelite the right to approach God. 
Not until after the Exile, when prophetism died out, 
did it prevail. In characterizing, as truly "colossal" 
the difference between the former vicav and that ex- 
pressed in document C, Wellhausen justly dwells on 
the following point: "Samuel the Ephraimite, when on 

1 Num. xxxv. 25, 28 ; Lev. xxi. 10 ; viii. 12 ; iv. 3, 5, 10 ; Ex. xxix. 7. 

2 Num. iii. 6, 9 ; viii. 1!) ; xviii. 2 IT., L':!. 

:{ Num. i. 51, 53; \iii. 1'.) ; xviii. 22. •' Lev. xvi. 

: > Wellhausen, History, p. 1 19. •'• Ex. xix. 21-25 ; 2 Sam. vi. <; IT. 



ZQQ THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

duty, nightly sleeps near the ark of Jehovah where, 
according to Lev. xvi., the high-priest alone has the 
right to present himself once a year, and then only after 
the strictest preparation and the performance of very 
elaborate expiatory ceremonies." 1 Another contrast 
that deserves more particular attention because the 
legislation of document C is represented as Mosaic, 
might be noticed, viz. that according to document A 
Joshua, an Ephraimite like Samuel, 2 and a mere layman 
withal, usually, in his capacity of servant of Moses, 
stays in the tabernacle of the desert. 3 

The author of document C, in his sacerdotal legisla- 
tion, undoubtedly had an excellent object in view ; he 
wished to help put an end to the abuses that favored 
idolatry. But the radical remedy that he proposed, 
and that succeeded only too well, resulted in Jewish 
clericalism. Though he helped to eradicate idolatry, 
he also helped to stifle religious life in forms, and led 
the religion of Israel into a wrong path from which 
the gospel alone could rescue it. 

The influence that document C exercised on matters 
in general, and the priesthood in particular, shows 
itself especially in the books of Chronicles, Ezra, and 
Nehemiah. The priests are there called sons of Aaron. 4 
Those who cannot prove their descent from Aaron are 
excluded from the priesthood. 5 Aaron is there regarded 
as the first high-priest. 6 He and his descendants were 
set apart to perform the duties of the priesthood forever, 

1 History, p. 131. 2 Num. xiii. 8, 1G. 3 Ex. xxxiii. 11. 

4 1 Chron. xv. 4 ; 2 Chron. xiii. 9 f. ; xxxi. 19 ; xxxv. 14 ; Neh. x. 
38 ; xii. 47. 5 Ezra ii. 02 f. ; Neh. vii. 04 f. 

6 Ezra vii. 5. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEV1TISM. 289 

and to bless the people ; 1 the other Levites are simple 
servants of the priests, charged with the inferior service 
of the sanctuary, 2 and more particularly with the trans- 
portation of the ark of the covenant. 3 It is only neces- 
sary to compare 1 Chron. xv. with 2 Sam. vi. to see how 
the history of times past was transformed to the eyes of 
posterity, who imagined that, in the domain of worship, 
everything had, since Moses, been done according to 
the legislation of document C. 

The early literature contains no sacerdotal theory, no 
explanation or justification of the existence of the priest- 
hood. The legislation of document A does not even 
speak of the priesthood at all. This document presup- 
poses its existence in Israel before the promulgation of 
the law. 4 It is probable that in early times no need of 
establishing a theory on this subject was felt. There 
were priests in Israel as among the other peoples, be- 
cause the common people feel the need of mediation 
between themselves and the Deity; and because they 
seek mediators, who, by reason of their peculiar sanc- 
tity, find, they think, more ready access to the Deity. 
This last was sufficiently justified by the existence of 
the priesthood everywhere in antiquity; it needed no 
other warrant. 

The first passages that claim the priesthood for the 
tribe of Levi base this claim solely on the divine elec- 
tion of this tribe. 5 Deuteronomy itself, in its latest 
portion, though it gives much space to the priesthood, 

1 1 Chron. xxiii. 1.'} ; vi. 40. 

2 1 Chron. vi. 48 ; ix. 17 IT. ; xxiii. 24 ff. 

'■'' 1 Chron. xv. 2, 15, 20 ; 2 Chron. v. 1 ; comp. Num. i. 50 ff. ; iv. 
15,25 It'., 51 if., 47. 4 Kx.xix.22,24. 

6 Deut. x. 8 ; xxxiii. 8 ff. ; 1 Sam. ii. 27 ff. 



290 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

contains nothing else on this subject. 1 Document C, 
in all respects theoretical, is the first to give a sacerdo- 
tal theory. It is not content with emphasizing the 
divine election of the priesthood, 2 it seeks reasons for 
it. It declares that the first-born of Israel belong to 
Jehovah, because they were spared the night when all 
the first-born of the land of Egypt were smitten. 3 It 
says that Jehovah takes the Levites instead of the first- 
born of the children of Israel. 4 The real reason for the 
existence of the priesthood, according to this document, 
is that Jehovah is too holy to come into contact with a 
common mortal. All that it says about the priesthood 
tends to make it a sacred caste, separate from the rest 
of the people. 

There is, first, the ceremony by which the Levites 
are consecrated, Num. viii. 5-22. It is an act of puri- 
fication (the word purification itself occurs several times 
in the account) by which the Levites are separated from 
the rest of the children of Israel, that they may belong 
to Jehovah. 5 The priests are consecrated with even 
more solemnity than the Levites; but their consecra- 
tion also consists of acts of purification and sanctifica- 
tion which separate the priests from the people, that 
they may be set apart for the service of Jehovah. 6 A 
number of regulations indicate that the priests are to 
be in a condition of peculiar holiness. Their food is 
to consist of holy things, i.e. things devoted to God. 7 

1 Deut. xviii. 5. 2 Num. xvi. 5 ; xvii. 5 ff. 

3 Ex. xiii. 2 ; Num. iii. 13 ; viii. 17 ; xviii. 15. 

4 Num. iii. 12, 41, 45 ; viii. 10, 18. 5 Num. viii. 14. 
6 Ex. xxix. 1-37 ; ad. 12-15 ; Lev. viii. 

' Lev. vi. 16 ff. ; vii. ; x. 12 ff. ; etc. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 291 

They must be free from every physical defect, 1 must 
not marry a woman who has been debauched, profaned, 
or divorced, 2 must abstain from all mutilation of their 
bodies, 3 and can defile themselves by mourning only in 
exceptional cases. 4 During the performance of their 
functions especially, they must keep themselves Leviti- 
cally perfectly clean, 5 and abstain from all intoxicating 
drinks. 6 Even the members of their families must be 
clean ; if the daughter of a priest becomes a harlot she 
must be burned." The high-priest in whom the priest- 
hood reaches its culmination, and finds its most perfect 
expression, represents at the same time the twelve 
tribes of Israel before God. 8 Thus when he commits a 
sin all the people are guilty. 9 He must receive a sep- 
arate consecration, 10 and wear garments which by their 
magnificence help to enhance the splendor of his ap- 
pearance. 11 He must keep himself more strictly clean 
than the other priests, never wearing mourning, nor 
marrying any but a virgin. 12 On account of this pecu- 
liar holiness he may enter once a year into the holy of 
holies, for the sake of making atonement for the whole 
people. 13 When he is clothed in his sacerdotal orna- 
ments he wears on his forehead this inscription: 
"Holiness to Jehovah," 14 which denotes the superior 
sanctity with which he must be clothed in order to 
worthily represent the people before the holy God, and 
the holiness required by this God of the entire people. 15 

1 Lev. xxi. 10 ff. 2 Lev. xxi.7; comp. Ezek. xliv. 22. 3 Lev. xxi. 5. 

4 Lev. x. ; xxi. 1-1 ; comp. Ezek. xliv. 25. 

5 Lev. xxii. 1-9. ,; Lev. x. 8-10. 7 Lev. xxi. 9. 
8 Ex. xxviii. 9-12, 21 IT., 29, 36-38. 9 Lev. iv. 3. 

i° Lev. viii. " Ex. xxviii. 2 IT. >'- Lev. xxi. 10-15. 

M Lev. xvi. n Ex. xxviii. 36 IT. 15 Lev. xi. 44. 



292 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Though all these regulations are found only in docu- 
ment C, we must not conclude that they were all so 
many innovations. If we omit details, and grasp the 
essence of these regulations, we surely find in them the 
expression of the idea that was always connected with 
the priesthood in Israel, viz. that it was peculiarly 
holy, and that in consequence it enjoyed the privilege 
of approaching God, which the laity did not possess. 
We have seen that, in ancient times, this sacerdotal 
prerogative was but imperfectly developed in Israel; 
but that it continually grew and reached its apogee 
after the Exile; and that it finds its legal sanction in 
document C. 



III. Religious Festivals. 

1. The Sabbath. — Originally the religious festivals 
in Israel were of a very simple character; they were 
chiefly related to nature and agriculture ; but in time 
this simplicity was lost, giving place to more theocratic 
conceptions and more Levitical practices. We have 
already been able to show to some extent that this was 
the case ; we shall here make it more decidedly appar- 
ent. The institution and the celebration of the Sab- 
bath, as they were conceived by Judaism, furnish at once 
new proof of it. 

We have seen that the humanitarian object of the 
Sabbath, the rest to be granted to everybody on this 
day, is the one most emphasized in the early documents. 
Yet the day had, from the start, a religious character. 
This appears from the decalogue, where we read: 



THIRD PERIOD. § 31. LEVITISM. '293 

"The seventh clay is a Sabbath to Jehovah, thy God." 1 
Document C says expressly, only reproducing, how- 
ever, the thought of the decalogue, that the Sabbath is 
a day consecrated to Jehovah. 2 The decalogue says 
further that the Sabbath should be sanctified, set apart, 
i.e. distinguished from the other clays. 3 Document C 
declares, finally, that it must be for Israel a holy 
thing. 4 Thus the Sabbath must be a clay distinct from 
the other clays, and consecrated to Jehovah. Israel 
'belongs to Jehovah ; they are his propert}^, they must 
give to him their life and their time. But, since the 
exigencies of ordinary life do not allow them to conse- 
crate all the days to their God, they must consecrate to 
him at least one clay of each week. The Sabbath, by its 
frequent recurrence, constantly reminds Israel that they 
belong, that they are entirely consecrated, to the God 
of the covenant. 5 

Ezekiel adds to this conception of the Sabbath a new 
element, which is reproduced in document C, viz. that 
the Sabbath is a token between Jehovah and his people, 
a token that Jehovah is the God of his people, and that 
he sanctifies them, i.e. sets them apart that he may 
make them his peculiar people. 6 In this way the Sab- 
bath is brought into intimate relation with the funda- 
mental thought of the religion of Israel; it becomes 
the token of the covenant between Jehovah and Israel. 7 

Though the early prophets speak little of the Sabbath, 

i Ex. xx. 10 ; Dent. v. 14. 2 Ex. xxxi> ^ 

3 Ex. xx. 8 ; Dent. v. 12. 4 Ex. xxxi. 14. 

5 Dillmann on Ex. xx. f. ; Riehin, Handworterbuch, i>. 1300; 
[Smith, Dictionary, art. Sabbath], 

c Ezek. xx. 12, 20 ; Ex. xxxi. 13, 17. 7 Ex. xxxi. 1G. 



294 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

and attach no great importance to the celebration of 
feast-days in general, 1 it is otherwise in the prophets 
of the Exile, who strictly enjoin the celebration of the 
Sabbath, and severely reprove transgressors of this 
divine ordinance. 2 In this respect, as in so many others, 
the formalistic tendency gained ground at the time of 
the Exile, even among the prophets, and afterwards 
completely got the upper hand. Document C prohibits 
even the most indispensable household employments on 
the Sabbath, 3 though there is no trace of such strictness 
in the oldest documents, and it pronounces the penalty 
of death upon those who do ?mj work on this day. 4 It 
represents the Sabbath as a holiday from primitive times, 
and as the fundamental religious festival, making its 
institution date from the creation. 5 According to the 
passages cited, the Sabbath derived its origin from the 
rest that God took on the seventh day, after having 
created in six days the heavens and the earth. But 
this reason for the celebration of the Sabbath itself pre- 
supposes the idea of the Sabbath; it dates from a time 
more recent than the institution of the Sabbath. 6 
Wellhausen remarks that it would not be possible to 
apply to the Sabbath, as document C conceives it, the 
words of Jesus, that the Sabbath was made for man, 
that it is rather a statute asserting itself with the 
severity of a natural law, which finds in itself the reason 
for its existence, and to which God himself must submit. 7 

i Hos. ii. 11 ; i. 13. 

2 Jer. xvii. 21-27 ; Ezek. xx. 12 f., 20 f., 24 ; xxii. 8, 26 ; xliv. 24 ; 
Isa. lvi. 2 ; lviii. 13 ; lxvi. 23. 3 Ex. xvi. 23 ; xxxv. 2. 

4 Ex. xxxi. 14 f. ; xxxv. 2 ; Num. xv. 32-30. 

5 Gen. ii. 2 f. ; Ex. xxxi. 17 ; xx. 11. 

6 Dillmann on Ex. xx. 11. ' History, p. 115. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 295 

It appears that even anciently sacrifices were offered, 
and people gathered in religious assemblies on the 
Sabbath day, 1 although the old documents hardly speak 
of it. Ezekiel, on the contrary, gives us to under- 
stand that sacrifices must be offered on this day. 2 
Document C describes the character of these sacrifices ; 3 
it also ordains that the shewbread be renewed on this 
day, 4 and a hol} r convocation gathered. 5 Thus we see 
that the Sabbath gradually lost its primitive character, 
and took a more Levitical color. When Leviticus, in 
the last passage cited, seems to require cessation from 
labor on the Sabbath clay, that there may be leisure for 
worship and religious edification, this is another new 
view, a view too spiritual for remote antiquity, one 
that can only have been formed at a comparatively 
recent date. 6 

The Chronicler supposes that the legislation of doc- 
ument C was known and observed from the remotest 
antiquity, 7 Nehemiah was obliged to take energetic 
measures to secure the observance of the Sabbath, for 
it was violated in the grossest fashion. 8 In the time 
of the Maccabees the Jews, on one occasion, allowed 
themselves, with their wives and children, to be massa- 
cred rather than take arms on the Sabbath ; but after 
this first sad experience they decided not to do so in 
the future. 9 "Based on the sacerdotal legislation, the 
celebration of the Sabbath in the midst of Judaism was 
logically developed, and continually approximated to 

1 fea. i. 13. 2 xlv. 17. 3 Num. xxviii. f. * Lev. xx i v> 5_g. 
5 Lev. xxiii. 3. G Dillmann on Ex. xx. f. 

7 1 Chron. xxiii. 31 ; 2 Chron. ii. 4 ; viii. 13 ; xxxi. 3 ; Neli. x. 33. 

8 Neh. xiii. 15-22. ° 1 Mace. ii. 32-41 ; ix. 43 IT. 



296 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the ideal of absolute rest; so that the most rigid party 
among the Pharisees thought the entire week necessary 
to preparation for the holy day, and that, if possible, 
the half of human life was to be devoted to it. ' From 
Sunday onward think of the Sabbath, ' says Shammai." 1 

2. The Sabbatical Year. — Thus far we have not 
spoken of the sabbatical year, though it is mentioned 
even in document A. But since, outside of some legal 
passages, it does not appear in the early history of 
Israel, it may be concluded that it did not play an 
important part. 

Document A confines itself to saying that every 
seven years the land shall remain fallow, that the spon- 
taneous product of the fields shall be left to the poor 
and to the animals, and that it shall be so even with the 
vine and the olive. 2 The sabbatical year, then, has 
here an essentially humanitarian character, like the 
weekly Sabbath. In Deuteronomy it preserves this 
character though it is presented in a new light. It 
there appears as a year of release, in which Israelitish 
debtors shall not be required to pay their debts. 3 
Moreover, during the feast of tabernacles of this year, 
the law shall be read to all Israel gathered at the sanc- 
tuary. 4 For Ezekiel also this year is chiefly a year of 
release. 5 

Document C takes exactly the same view of the sab- 
batical year as of the weekly Sabbath. Every seven 
years the country must rest, that this may be a Sabbath 
to Jehovah. 6 The fields are not to be sowed, and the 

1 Wellhausen, History, p. 116. 2 Ex. xxiii. 10 f. 

3 Dent. xv. 1 II 4 Deut. xxxi. 10 f. 6 xlvi. 17. 

G Lev. xxv. 2 11. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 297 

vine is not to be pruned, the spontaneous products are 
not to be harvested, but they are to be gathered as there 
is need of them. 1 The product of the soil is therefore 
no longer left to the poor and the beasts of the field, 
as document A prescribes ; the owner is himself author- 
ized to harvest for his own support and the support of 
his house, what the soil spontaneously produces. In 
order to induce the people to observe this law Jehovah 
promises to grant a particularly abundant harvest the 
sixth year. 2 The idea of the weekly Sabbath then is 
here extended to an entire year, and to the soil of the 
whole country, which is to celebrate a Sabbath in honor 
of Jehovah, the real owner of the soil, who has given 
it to Israel. 3 

This thought, that the land of Canaan belongs to 
Jehovah, 4 who gives it to his people, 5 always existed 
in Israel; but the institution of the sabbatical year, as 
it is represented in document C, on the basis of this 
thought, seems to be of recent date. We see even from 
this document as well as others, that before the Exile, 
the sabbatical year was not observed in conformity with 
these regulations. 6 Riehm declares that in reality it 
was impossible to observe it thus ; that, moreover, in 
the legislation of document A, it is presented in an- 
other and more reasonable form; that there the com- 
mand is not that all the Israelitish lands shall remain 
fallow the same year, but only that each field shall be 
so treated once in seven years, so that thus they could 

1 Lev. xxv. 3-7. 2 Lev. xxv. 18-22. 3 Lev. xxv. 2, 23. 

4 Bos. ix. 3 ; Josh. xxii. 1!) ; Jer. ii. 7 ; Ps. x. 1(5. 
6 Gen. xv. 18-21 ; xxvi. 3 f. ; Ex. xxiii. 20-31 ; Lev. xiv. 34; xx. 
24; xxiii. 10; Num. xiii. 2 ; Ps. cxxxv. 12. 
Lev. xxvi. 31 I'., 13; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21. 



298 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

be allowed to rest successively instead of simultane- 
ously. 1 Reuss and Wellhausen take the same view of 
the matter. 2 

We know also that, in the time of Nehemiah, it was 
agreed to observe this year as a year of release, 3 and that 
in the days of the Maccabees, it was observed as a 
sabbatical year, but not without danger of scarcity. 4 

3. The Year of Jubilee. — The year of jubilee, of 
which mention is made in document C, is very analo- 
gous to the sabbatical year. It is only the develop- 
ment, and as it were complement, of the latter. It is 
in reality a sabbatical year, which, however, occurs 
only every fifty years, after every seventh sabbatical 
year. 5 It is, besides, a year of liberty, of release, a 
year when every one recovers possession of his own 
estate, and returns to his own family. 6 In the year of 
jubilee, in fact, all alienated property must be restored 
to the original owner, 7 and every Israelite, whom pov- 
erty has reduced to servitude, must regain his liberty. 8 
What is the reason for this twofold requirement? 

Jehovah is the real owner of the country, and the 
Israelites are with him as strangers and guests. 9 None 
of them has the right to alienate what he has received 
from his God ; he can sell only the usufruct, and that 
only until the year of jubilee, when all property returns 
to its lawful owner. But if Jehovah is sole proprietor 
of the land of Canaan, he is also the sole master of the 
Israelites ; they became his servants from the day when 

1 Handw'orterbuch, pp. 1313 ff. 

2 Reuss, Hist. Sainte, I. p. 17G ; Wellhausen, History, pp. 110 ff. 

3 Neh. x. 31. 4 1 Mace. vi. 49, 53. 5 Lev. xxv. 8 f., 11 f. 

e Lev. xxv. 10. "' Lev. xxv. 14-17, 23-24. 8 Lev. xxv. 39-55. 

9 Lev. xxv. 23. 



THIRD PERIOD. — §31. LEVITISM. 299 

he brought them forth from the land of Egypt. 1 They 
can therefore no longer be the slaves of any one ; they 
can only, in case of necessity, make themselves hire- 
lings until the year of jubilee, when they will once 
more recover their liberty. 

This year must be sanctified by the Israelites or be 
holy for them, 2 i.e. it must be distinguished from the 
other years as a } T ear apart, having a sacred character. 

We nowhere find that the year of jubilee was cele- 
brated. This fact is easy to understand. It would 
have been necessary to leave the fields fallow two con- 
secutive years, since the year of jubilee must always 
follow a sabbatical year. But it was difficult to ob- 
serve even the latter. How could the other be cele- 
brated after it? Here, as elsewhere, appears the theo- 
retical tendency of document C. A theory was formed 
without any anxiety about the facts, the practical life. 
The systemizing spirit is allowed free rein, without 
regard to what is humanly possible. 

4. The New Moon. — We know that, from early 
times, the new moon was a holiday in Israel. Docu- 
ment C presupposes the existence of it (and this is the 
case wherever there is reference to it throughout the 
Old Testament); it does not speak of its institution as 
it does of that of most of the other Israelitish festivals. 
It mentions this festival only to ordain that its solem- 
nity shall be enhanced by the sound of the trumpet, 3 
and to describe the sacrifices that must be offered when it 
occurs. 4 The Chronicler speaks of it in the same way. 5 

1 Lev. xxv. 42, 55. 2 Lev. xxv. 10-12. 

:: Num. x. 10. 4 Num. xxviii. 11-15. 

5 1 Chron. xxiii. 31 ; 2 Chron. ii. 4 ; viii. 13 ; xxxi. 3 ; Noli. x. 33. 



300 THEOLOGY OP THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

Document C, however, institutes a festival for the 
first day of the seventh month, with directions to cele- 
brate it more solemnly than the other new moons, as a 
great feast-day on Avhich there shall be a summons b^y 
trumpets, a holy convocation, and special sacrifices, 
besides the sacrifices of the other new moons. 1 

This enhanced solemnity of the seventh new moon 
proves that the idea of the Sabbath is applied to the 
months as to the years, and that the seventh month of 
the year is in a sense a sabbatical month. But every- 
thing favors the belief that this festival, like the year 
of jubilee, is introduced into document C simply that 
the sabbatical system may be more complete, and may 
extend to the months as well as to the years and the 
days. In the early documents no trace of it is to be 
found. 

5. The Pilgrim Feasts. — We have already, under the 
first period, considered the essential features of these 
great pilgrim feasts. It remains for us to notice here 
some features peculiar to the documents of our period. 

a. Ezekiel, in his proposed legislation, speaking 
of the feast of the passover, describes especially the 
number of sacrifices that the prince is to offer every 
day, during the paschal week. 2 Document C gives 
much attention to this feast. 3 It differs in certain 
respects from the earliest codes. Thus it ordains that 
the paschal victim shall be eaten in every house, and 
that all shall partake of it, 4 while the older codes 
prescribed that the passover should be sacrificed and 

i Lev. xxiii. 23-25 ; Num. xxix. 1-6. 2 xlv. 21-24. 

3 Ex. xii. 1-20, 43-49; Lev. xxiii. 5 ff. ; Num. ix. 1 ft ; xxviii. 
16-25. 4 Ex. xii. 3 ff., 40. 



THIRD PERIOD. § 31. LEVITISM. 301 

eaten at the sanctuary, whither only the male and 
adult Israelites resorted. It also requires that the flesh 
of the paschal victim be roasted and not boiled, 1 that 
not only the seventh but also the first day be a holiday, 2 
and that sacrifices be offered every day during the pas- 
chal week; 3 this last feature we found only in Ezekiel. 
It declares that the stranger who wishes to partake of 
the passover must allow himself to be circumcised, 4 
and that every Israelite is obliged to celebrate it every 
year; that he who neglects to do so shall be punished 
with death, and that he who is prevented from celebrat- 
ing it at the date fixed must celebrate it a month later. 5 

Here again we can trace the influence of document 
C upon the author of Chronicles. It is only necessary 
to compare 2 Kings xxiii. 21 fT. with 2 Chron. xxxv. 
Both passages speak of the celebration of the passover 
under Josiah, as it had not been celebrated from time 
immemorial. But the second account differs from the 
first, in that it introduces all sorts of details, for the 
purpose of representing this celebration in a way to 
make it conform to the regulations of document C. On 
one point, however, the author seeks to reconcile this 
latter with Deuteronomy. While, according to the one, 
the flesh of the paschal victim is to be roasted and 
according to the other it is to be boiled, the Chronicler 
causes to be prepared for the passover both roasted and 
boiled meats. 6 

b. Respecting the feast of weeks it is in order to 

1 Ex. xii. 8 f. 

2 Ex. xii. 12, 16 ; Lev. xxiii. 7 f. ; Num. xxviii. 18, 25. 

;: Num. xxviii. 19 -24. 4 Ex. xii. 44-48. ■'• Num. ix. 10-13. 

|; 2 ( Ihron. xxxv. L3. 



302 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

make a preliminary observation on the name that it 
bears in the three principal documents of the Penta- 
teuch, 1 and on the number of weeks, seven, that must 
separate it from the feast of the pass over. 2 Must we 
not conclude from this name and number that this 
feast had an astronomical, before it took an agricultural, 
character, and that it was first the feast of the seven 
weeks before becoming the feast of the end of the har- 
vest, or the day of the first-fruits? 3 This period of 
seven weeks recalls, moreover, the feast of the seventh 
new moon, the sabbatical year, and the year of jubilee. 
And it is clear that the same system that underlies the 
week of seven days with its Sabbath is extended to all 
the other divisions of time: the seventh day of the 
week is the Sabbath, the seventh week counting from 
the passover is closed by the feast of weeks, the seventh 
new moon is celebrated in a peculiarly solemn way, the 
seventh year is a sabbatical year, and finally, after seven 
sabbatical years, o,ccurs the year of jubilee; then the 
cycle is complete. 

Beyond these general observations we have little to 
say of the feast in question, which, "moreover, never had 
the importance of the other two pilgrim feasts. Thus 
the prophet' Ezekiel does not even mention it in his 
proposed Levitical legislation, complete as that is. 
And in the earliest literature there is never any refer- 
ence # to it outside of the legal passages of documents A 
and B. 

The few new points on this subject, contained in 
document C, are the following : The feast of weeks shall 

1 Ex. xxxiv. 22 ; Dent. xvi. 10, 10 ; Num. xxviii. 20. 

2 Deut. xvi. 9 1: Lev. xxiii. 15 f. 3 Num. xxviii. 20. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 303 

be consecrated to rest, and on this day there shall be a 
holy convocation ; x the offerings to be made, far from 
being left to the inclination of each worshipper, or pro- 
portioned to the divine blessing received, as in Deuter- 
ononry, are strictly regulated; 2 it is prescribed among 
other things that an expiatory sacrifice shall be offered, 
and certain fixed contributions paid to the priests, 3 
while Deuteronomy makes this feast a joyful feast and 
urges that the Levites be invited to the public meal 
with the poor; the special offering at this feast, which 
best expresses its agricultural character, is the offering 
of two loaves. 4 

c. According to the early documents, the date of the 
feast of tabernacles had to be regulated solely by the 
autumn harvests, which vary from one year to another. 
Ezekiel is the first to mention the fifteenth day of the 
seventh month as a fixed date for this feast ; he main- 
tains the duration of the feast at seven days, but he 
prescribes expiatory sacrifices, which hardly agree with 
the joyous character that this feast seems always to 
have had before the Exile. 5 

Document C here introduces innovations more nu- 
merous and more important. According to it the feast 
of tabernacles must last eight days instead of seven, 
and on the first as well as the last day there must be 
a holy convocation and a day of rest. 6 More than this, 
document C inclines to rob this feast of its agricultural 
character, and impress upon it a theocratic one. It 

1 Lev. xxiii. 21 ; Num. xxviii. 20. 

2 Lev. xxiii. 16 If.; Num. xxviii. 20 IT. 

8 Lev. xxiii. 19 f.; Num. xxviii. :50. 4 Lev. xxiii. 17. 

6 Ezek. xlv. 25. G Lev. xxiii. 33-36, 39 IT. 



304 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ordains that it be celebrated forever in honor of Jeho- 
vah, in order that all future generations may know that 
he caused the children of Israel to dwell in tents after 
having freed them from the land of Egypt. 1 But the 
booths of branches, which are evidently of rural char- 
acter, thus lose their primitive significance. We see 
that the benefits of nature, which so deeply impressed 
the ancient Israelites, no longer had the same value for 
the Jews, who more highly prized theocratic advan- 
tages. Document C prescribes that at this feast a 
much larger number of sacrifices be offered than at the 
others ; moreover, according to its custom, it regulates 
everything, and leaves nothing to the inclination of the 
individual. 2 In the time of Ezra these regulations 
began to be observed, but it was well known that pre- 
viously this feast had not been celebrated in the same 
manner. 3 

6. The Bay of Atonement. — The day of atonement 
seems to be an innovation of document C. There is 
not to be found the slightest trace of it in earlier docu- 
ments. Ezekiel offers at most a few hints that may 
have suggested such a festival. 4 The need of celebrat- 
ing a great day of fasting and atonement was. undoubt- 
edly suggested by the catastrophe of the Exile, which 
made the feeling of the guilt of the entire people weigh 
heavily upon the conscience, and led, as we have seen, 
to the institution of several days of fasting. 

The day of atonement, or of the great propitiation, 
must be the tenth da}' of the seventh month, and a day 
of rest and fasting; it must be celebrated by a holy 

1 Lev. xxiii. 41^3. 2 Num. xxix. 12-39. 

3 Ezra iii. 4 ; Neh. viii. 13-18. 4 xlv. 18-20. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 305 

convocation, and a series of sacrifices. 1 It should be 
observed that this is the only occasion for which the 
law ordains fasting, and here it is undoubtedly meant 
to be an expression of the feelings of contrition and 
humility that should fill the heart on that day. The 
special regulations for this festival are enumerated at 
length in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus which 
treats especially of this subject. We there learn that 
on the day of atonement the high-priest, in fulfilling 
his functions, must put on, not his ornaments, but a 
simple robe of linen, as a sign of humiliation, and this, 
after having taken a bath in token of purification ; that 
he must offer an expiatory sacrifice for himself and his 
house, and another for the people, sprinkling some of 
the blood of each of the victims before the mercy seat 
in the holy of holies, and putting their sins upon the 
scapegoat, that it may bear them into the desert; that 
he must make atonement even for the sanctuary and the 
altar, on account of the uncleanness of the children of 
Israel. This day is therefore essentially a day of gen- 
eral and complete purification, on which Israel must be 
purified from all their sins and all their stains. 2 This 
purification, as we have just seen, must be effected by 
humiliation and atonement. 

Israel must be pure and holy to enjoy the covenant 
with Jehovah, the pure and holy God. When their 
holiness is sullied it must be restored. For individ- 
ual stains and sins the law prescribes special expiatory 
and purifying processes. But these processes do not 
suffice to restore the entire people to purity and holi- 

1 Lev. xvi. 20, 31 ; xxiii. 26-32 ; Num. xxix. 7-11. 

2 Lev. xvi. 10, 19-21, 30, 34. 



306 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ness. This end is only attained by the great day of 
atonement. This festival, annually repeated, restores 
every year the holiness of Israel, and thus renders pos- 
sible the maintenance of their covenant with the holy 
God. That the purification may be complete the high- 
priest must first purify himself, and then the entire 
priesthood, the people, and even the sanctuary with the 
altar. The people must participate in the act of puri- 
fication by observing a day of rest and fasting. This 
expiatory festival, which was celebrated a few days 
before the feast of tabernacles, the last of the annual 
festivals, became as it were a clay of preparation for this 
holy week, purifying Israel from their sins that they 
might afterward give themselves to rejoicing. 1 

7. The Feast of Purim. — According to Esther ix. 
17-32, the feast of purim was instituted in the days 
of Ahasuerus by Mordecai, in memory of the defeat 
that Haman suffered in his murderous plans against 
the Jews, and the victory that the latter won over their 
enemies. But it is now generally admitted that the 
narrative of the book of Esther is not historical. And 
since we have no other means of discovering the actual 
origin of this festival, it remains surrounded with great 
obscurity. If there is one thing clearer than another it 
is that this has nothing in common with the other 
Israelitish festivals. It is not brought into relation 
with the sanctuary, to say nothing of God, whose 
name even does not once appear in the book in 
question. 

1 Bibel-LexiJcon, V. p. 599 ; [Ewalcl, Antiquities, p. 361]. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 31. LEVITISM. 307 

IV. Religious Rites. 

We shall not here speak again of all the religions 
ceremonies, to which reference was made in the first 
period, for the simple reason that we have exhausted 
all that concerns most of them. But we must return 
to the subject of sacrifices, on which there remains a 
number of observations to be made. 

We have seen that, according to document A, the 
practice of making sacrifices is as old as humanity. 
Document C, on the contrary, represents matters in 
such a way as to induce the belief that Moses first insti- 
tuted sacrifices and Israelitish worship in general. In 
the earlier history, in fact, it never speaks of sacrifices, 
and does not allow us to suppose that they were offered. 
This is but one instance of a divergence of which a 
more striking example must here be noticed. 

Until toward the Exile the important thing in Israel 
was that the sacrifices be offered to Jehovah, and not to 
other gods ; the ceremony in itself considered, and the 
persons fulfilling the sacerdotal functions when sacri- 
fices were offered, were secondary matters. Document 
C, on the contrary, presents an entirely different view 
of the subject. All that concerns worship is there reg- 
ulated in the strictest and minutest manner, and all the 
acts of worship must be performed in harmony with 
these regulations. The sons of Aaron alone, after hav- 
ing received the required consecration, have the right 
to offer sacrifices, and to offer them according to the 
lawful ritual. Any transgression of these ritualistic 
laws is punishable with death. According to this doc- 
ument, therefore, it is not to be supposed that the 



308 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

patriarchs, those men of God, offered sacrifices at will, 
as document A narrates ; it is not to be supposed that 
faithful Israelites or their ancestors performed relig- 
ious rites that were not in strict conformity to the 
regulations of the Mosaic and divine law. This is the 
reason why it does not describe the patriarchs as per- 
forming religious rites such as sacrifices. 

In its legal portion this .document gives much space 
to sacrifices. Besides the numerous passages that reg- 
ulate the special ones, seven chapters, Lev. i.-vii., 
are exclusively devoted to this subject. There is men- 
tion of burnt-offerings, which were entirely consumed 
on the altar, and which therefore best express the idea 
of entire consecration to God; 1 of bloodless sacrifices, 
of which only a part was burned on the altar, while the 
rest fell to the priests; 2 of peace-offerings or thank- 
offerings, of which certain portions were consumed on 
the altar, while others fell to the priests, or were eaten 
by those who offered them ; 3 finally, of two kinds of 
expiatory sacrifices, the blood from which was used in 
making atonement, and the fat was burned on the altar, 
while the flesh, in certain cases, was burned outside the 
camp, and in other cases was used as food by the priests. 4 

Before the Exile only the first three kinds of sacri- 
fices were known; at least there is never in the old 
documents any reference to a special class of expiatory 
sacrifices. Ezekiel is the first to make mention of 
them. 5 There is only one older passage that speaks, 
not of an expiatory sacrifice, but of a guilt-offering, or a 

i i. ; vi. 8 ff. 2 ii. ; vi. 14 ff. 3 iii. ; vii. 11 ff. 

* iv. f.; vi. 24 ff.; vii. 1 ff. 

5 xl. 39 ; xlii. 13 : xliii. 19 ff. ; xliv. 29 ; xlv. 15, 17 ff. ; xlvi. 20. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 32. FORGIVENESS, ATONEMENT. 309 

species of fine that the Philistines believed themselves 
bound to pay to the God of Israel, when restoring the 
ark of the covenant, that they might stop the plagues 
that it had brought upon them. 1 In another passage, 
which, however, is perhaps not older than the Exile, 
mention is also made of guilt money and sin money, 
which are to fall to the priests, i.e. fines to be paid to 
the priests, as reparation for injustice committed, and 
which are regarded as offerings made to Jehovah. 2 
In Ezekiel, on the contrary, there is reference to verita- 
ble sin and guilt offerings, such as we see in document 
C. 3 Though special names to designate the expiatory 
sacrifice are only found from the Exile onward, and 
they were not made a separate class until then, this does 
not mean that these sacrifices were not known before 
that time. The Israelites, like the other peoples, cer- 
tainly from remote antiquity offered expiatory sacri- 
fices; but in this case they employed burnt-offerings 
and thank-offerings. 4 Even in document C are found 
proofs that the burnt-offering might also serve as an 
expiatory sacrifice. 5 

§ 32. FOKGIVENESS AND ATONEMENT. 

This is the proper place to consider more particularly 
the two subjects, forgiveness and atonement, the latter 
of which, especially, attained in this period alone its 
complete development. 

1 1 Sam. vi. 3-8. 2 2 Kings xii. 1(5 ; comp. Num. v. 5-10. 

3 Lev. iv. f.; vi. 17- vii. 7. 

4 Gen. viii. 20 ; Ex. xx. 24 ; xxiv. 5 ; Jud. xx. 2G ; xxi. 3 f . ; 1 
Sam. xiii. ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 18-25 ; Job i. 5 ; xlii. 8; Mic. vi. f. ; Ezra 
xlv. 15, 17. & Lev. i. 4 : xiv. 20 ; xvi. 24. 



310 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

According to the Old Testament there are mortal 
sins, that can neither be forgiven nor expiated, 1 that 
must be punished by death. In the various codes of 
the Pentateuch a large number of passages pronounce 
the sentence of death upon the guilty. 2 Now these 
sentences should not be regarded simply from the jurid- 
ical standpoint; it is Jehovah who pronounces them, 
or who causes them to be pronounced and executed, 
that he may extirpate from the midst of his people and 
exclude from his covenant those who have become guilty 
of unpardonable sins. According to Num. xv. 27-31, 
involuntary sins may be expiated and pardoned, but 
sins committed with a high hand, i.e. intentionally, 
deliberately, defiantly, and contemptuously, 3 do not 
obtain forgiveness; they must be punished by death. 
This distinction, however, is found only in document 
C ; 4 elsewhere, on the contrary, we see that forgiveness 
is granted even to sins committed in a perfectly con- 
scious condition. 

Often, in fact, the people Israel were unworthy of 
forgiveness. Jehovah forgave them then for 7 .iis own 
sake, and for the sake of his name, to sanctify, glorify 
his name among the heathen nations, that it might not 
be exposed to their scoffs, and allowed to be profaned; 5 

i Ex. xxxii. 30-35 ; 1 Sam. iii. 14. 

2 Gen. xvii. 14 ; Ex. xii. 15, 19 ; xxxi. 14 f. ; xxxv. 2 ; Lev. vii. 
20 ff. ; xvii. 4 ; xxiii. 29 ; etc. 

3 Comp. Num. xxxiii. 3 ; Ex. xiv. 8. 

* Lev. iv. 2 ff., 13 ff., 22 ff., 27 ff. ; v. 15 ff. ; xxii. 14 ; Num. xv. 
22 ff. ;-xxxv. 11, 15, 22 ff. ; Josh. xx. 3 ff., 9. 

5 Num. xiv. 13 ff. ; Deut. ix. 24 ff. ; Jer. xiv. 20 f. ; Ezek. xx. 8 f., 
13 f., 21 f., 43 f. ; xxxvi. 17 ff., 22 ff. ; Isa. xliii. 25 ; xlviii. 9-11 ; Ps. 
lxxix. 9 f. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 32. FORGIVENESS, ATONEMENT. 311 

or perhaps for the sake of Zion and Jerusalem, chosen 
by Jehovah as a place for his name ; a or again perhaps 
on account of the fathers, of the covenant made with 
them, and the promises made to them under oath; 2 
finally, on account of the intercession or the faithful- 
ness of genuine servants of God. 3 All this amounts 
to saying that Jehovah grants to his people unmerited 
forgiveness, gratuitous forgiveness. 

From ancient times forgiveness is placed in close 
relation with atonement. But this latter, in Judaism, 
is understood otherwise than in Hebraism, and the 
terms used to denote it in the Old Testament have a 
signification different from that which we attach to the 
word atone. 

The Hebrew terms that are generally rendered by 
this English word or its derivatives come from the root 
kaphar, which means cover. Thus, according to Gen. 
xxxii. 20, Jacob seeks to cover the face of Esau with 
presents, that the latter may not see his fault, and that 
he himself may look his brother in the face without 
further fear of his anger. When the people Israel have 
offended Jehovah by the worship of the golden calf, 
Moses seeks to cover the sin of the people by entreating 
the forgiveness of God. 4 According to Deut. xxxii. 43, 
Jehovah covers his country and his people by aveng- 
ing the blood of his servants, and avenging himself on 

1 1 Kings xi. 13, 32, 30 ; xiv. 21. 

2 Ex. xxxii. 13 f.; Lev. xxvi. 40-45 ; Dcut. ix. 27 ; 1 Kings xi. 13, 
32, 34, 30 ; xv. 3-5 ; 2 Kings viii. IS f. ; xiii. 23 ; xix. 34 ; xx. 0. 

3 Gen. xviii. 20 if. ; xx. 7; Ex. xxxii. 11-14; Num. xiv. 13-20; 
Deut. ix. 25 ff. ; 1 Sam. vii. 5 ; Job xlii. 8 f. ; Ps. cvi. 23 ; Jer. v. 1 ; 
Ezek. xxii. 30 ; Isa. liii. : lxv. 8. 4 Ex. xxxii. 30. 



312 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

his adversaries. 1 God declares on his oath that the 
sin of Eli shall never be covered by sacrifices. 2 The 
term in question also designates the reparation that 
David makes to the Gibeonites, for the injury done 
them by Saul. 3 This reparation is at the same time a 
satisfaction rendered to Jehovah, who has sent upon 
his people famine in punishment of this crime. It 
consists in delivering to the Gibeonites seven sons of 
Saul, that they may be hanged before Jehovah at 
Gibeah. 4 When Isaiah, at the time of his call, thinks 
himself undone, because he, though unclean, has seen 
Jehovah, a seraph touches his lip with a glowing stone 
taken from the altar of the sanctuary, and says to him : 
"Thy iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is covered." 5 
Thenceforward the prophet has nothing to fear from 
the holy presence of God. In another series of pas- 
sages, it is generally God who covers the sin of men, 
clearly as not taking account of it, as forgiving it. 6 In 
Prov. xvi. 6 man is regarded as himself covering sin 
by virtue, as for example, a little farther on in verse 
14, the wise man is said to cover the wrath of the king, 
i.e. appease it. The verb kasaJi, which evidently means 
cover % is used in the same sense as kaj)har, but more 
rarely. 7 

In the foregoing it is difficult to find a distinct theory 
on the subject under discussion. "What appears most 
clearly is that sin needs to be covered before the holy 

i Eiehm, Studien u. Kritilcen, 1877, p. 24; [Sclmltz, I. pp. 397 £.]. 

2 1 Sam. iii. 14. 3 2 Sam. xxi. 3. 

4 2 Sam. xxi. 1-6. 5 Isa. vi. 5-7. 

6 Deut. xxi. 8 ; Jer. xviii. 23 ; Ezek. xvi. 03 ; 2 Chron. xxx. 18 ; 
Ps. lxv. 3 ; lxxviii. 38 ; lxxix. 9 ; comp. Isa. xxii. 14 ; xxvii. 9; Dan. 
ix. 24. 7 Prov. x. 12 ; xvii. 9 ; Neh. iv. 5 ; Ps. xxxii. 1 ; lxxxv. 2. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 32. FORGIVENESS, ATONEMENT. 313 

God, that God usually covers it himself, aud that the 
intercession of a man of God, the offering of sacrifices, 
repentance, and faithfulness, are the means of covering- 
it. With the appearance of the two Levitical theorist's, 
Ezekiel and the author of document C, the subject is 
presented in a more uniform manner, and otherwise than 
in the early documents. According to them, in fact, 
it is persons, unclean or unholy souls, not sin, that 
need to be covered ; it is not God that covers them, but 
the priesthood ; and the means used are the sacred rites, 
chiefly sacrifices, and especially sin and guilt offerings. 1 
There is even reference'to the covering of things, espe- 
cially sacred objects, to make them clean, holy; 2 thus 
the land that has been polluted by the blood of a per- 
son intentionally slain can be covered only by the 
blood of the murderer. 3 

All this proves that the word atone, by which the 
verb kaphar is usually rendered, distorts the primitive 
and characteristic idea that it is intended to express. 
This is best shown by the fact that document C, which 
gave to this idea the importance that was afterwards 
attributed to it, like Ezekiel, speaks of objects that 
must be covered. The translators are therefore obliged, 
in conformity with established usage, to speak of an 
altar, a sanctuary, etc., for which atonement must be 

i Ezek. xlv. 15, 17 ; Ex. xxix. 33, 30 ; xxx. 10-1(5 ; Lev. i. 4 ; iv. 
20 ff. ; v. l*f. ; vi. 30 ; vii. 7 ; viii. 31 ; ix. 7 1'.; x. 17 ; xii. 7 f. ; xiv. 
18-21, 29-31, 52 f . ; xv. 15, :}() ; xvi. (i IT. ; xvii. 11 ; xix. 22 ; xxiii. 
27 f. ; Num. v. 8 ; vi. 1 1 ; viii. 12 if. ; xv. 25, 28 ; xvi. 4(5 f. ; xxv. 13 ; 
xxviii. 22, 30 ; xxix. 5, 11 ; xxxi. 50 ; 1 Chron. vi. 49 ; 2 Chron. xxix. 
24; xxx. 18. 

2 Ezek. xliii. 20, 20; xlv. 18-20; Ex. xxix. 30 f. ; xxx. 10; Lev. 
viii. 15 ; xiv. fi.'! ; xvi. L6, 1*, 20, 33. :! Num. xxxv. 33. 



314 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

made, that it may be or remain consecrated to Jehovah. 
This is a false idea,, and one that the Old Testament 
does not intend to express. What it means is that men 
and things, in a sinful or unclean condition, or in a 
profane condition, need to be clothed in moral or Levit- 
ical holiness to exist in the presence of the God of 
holiness, to be pleasing to him, or consecrated to his 
service. 

Though the Old Testament speaks of various means 
of atonement, though it represents certain sacrifices as 
means of expiation par excellence, as means of covering 
the sins of men before the holy God, it does not explain 
just how atonement is effected. Too often, in seeking 
a solution of this question, almost exclusive atten- 
tion has been paid to Lev. xvii. 11, and it has been 
concluded that there can be no atonement and forgive- 
ness without the shedding of blood. 1 But the passage 
is not so absolute. It says, indeed, that blood serves 
the purpose of atonement; it does not say that it alone 
serves this purpose. And even if it did say so, we 
should here have only the view of document C, and not 
that of the Old Testament in general; for we have 
become acquainted with other means of expiation. 
But this document itself recognizes that the shedding 
of blood is not indispensable to atonement. It speaks 
of bloodless atoning sacrifices. 2 It shows that the 
offering of incense also effects atonement, 3 as well as 
the offering of money brought by each Israelite when 
the people are numbered. 4 Finally in atoning sacri- 
fices all parts of the victims and all the sacrificial acts 

i Heb. ix. 22. 2 Lev. v. 11-13. 

8 Num. xvi. 4G f. 4 Ex. xxx. 11-10. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 32. FORGIVENESS, ATONEMENT. 315 

contribute to atonement, for only after the performance 
of all these acts is it usually said that the priest shall 
thus make atonement for the guilty, and that they shall 
be forgiven. 1 The blood of the atoning victims should 
not, therefore, be regarded as the principal means of 
atonement. According to Lev. xvii. 11, it has this 
effect, because the blood is the seat of the soul or the 
life of the victim; this is the reason why it can make 
atonement for souls. But whence comes it that the 
blood is the seat of life, has this effect? The Scrip- 
tures do not say. We think that- it is because, in the 
Old Testament, life is always regarded as the most 
precious and the most sacred of things. 2 The special 
part played by the blood in the offering of expiatory 
sacrifices is indicated by the peculiar way in which it 
is sprinkled. 3 

It has often been taught that the atoning victim was 
slain jn the place of the sinner, that it suffered the 
death that the latter had deserved. But this is not so. 
According to the Israelitish law, the man who has de- 
served death is obliged to suffer it, he cannot redeem 
himself by any victim whatsoever. Expiatory sacrifices 
can only cover sins committed by inadvertence, which 
do not incur the penalty of death. Nor does anything 
in the ceremony connected with expiatory sacrifices 
indicate that the victims suffer death in place of the 
guilty. The atoning victims are slain like the others. 
Their slaughter is simply the means of obtaining the 
blood, the hit, and tin; flesh, each of which contributes 
to the sacrificial act. It is equally wrong to suppose 

i Lev. iv. 20, 26, :i"> ; v. 10, 1.°,. 2 [Schultz, I. pp. 385 f.] 

3 Lev. iv. \'.. 10 is, 25 ; comp. i. 5 ; iii. 2. 



316 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

that in placing his hand upon the head of the victim 
the offender transfers his guilt to it. This act is pre- 
scribed for sacrifices in general, as, for example, for 
peace-offerings, 1 by which thanks are rendered to God. 2 
Since the atoning sacrifice, like any other sacrifice, 
is a qorban, an offering, 3 we must come to the conclu- 
sion that it is an offering made to God by an offender, 
to make amends for a reparable transgression, and to 
obtain forgiveness for it. It is in reality a means of 
grace, a means offered by Jehovah to members of his 
people who have inadvertently sinned against him, by 
which they may be restored to favor before him, be 
reconciled to him, and thus continue to enjoy the 
covenant with him. 



§ 33. ETHICAL LIFE. 
I. Pharisaism. 

Since worship, the external side of religion, played a 
preponderant part in Judaism, the internal, the moral 
and religious, life necessarily had to suffer. An exag- 
gerated value attributed to external worship, in fact, 
leads man to believe that the strict performance of 
religious ceremonies constitutes the prime duty of life, 
that this is the sum total of religion, and even morality. 
The Jews were the more liable to fall into this error, 
since, for them, as for the Hebrews, morality was 
essentially religious, inseparable from religion. In 
strict devotion to the latter they believed that they 
faithfully fulfilled all their duties. 

1 Lev. iii. 2 Lev. vii. 11 ff. 3 Lev. iv. 23, 28, 32 ; v. 11. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 33. ETHICAL LIFE. 317 

When religion is purely legal and formalistic, as was 
that of the Jews, it is, moreover, easier to meet its 
demands than when it consists of holiness of heart and 
life. In the latter case there is always something lack- 
ing even in the best. Legality is easier of attainment 
than genuine piety and morality. Formalism and 
legalism, therefore, necessarily issue in pride. They 
engender the doctrine of the merit of works, of salvation 
by one's own righteousness. They produce contempt 
for all who do not observe, or do not strictly enough 
observe, the elaborate and often wearisome rites of 
religion. 

All this we learn from Pharisaism, as it presents 
itself to us in the New Testament, whence we see that 
it was not merely a sect or a tendency in the midst of 
Judaism, but the dominant tendency, so that Judaism 
and Pharisaism finally became identical. Bat the 
Pharisaical tendency existed among the Jews before 
the rise of the Pharisaical party. We shall describe 
some of its characteristic features. 

It should first of all be observed that the old cove- 
nant, with its essentially legal regime, develops in man 
the idea of his own righteousness, and largely issues in 
the doctrine of the merit of Avorks. The whole Old 
Testament teaches that the salvation of each one de- 
pends upon his righteousness, upon the faithful observ- 
ance of the commands of God, formulated by the written 
law or the prophets. Thus when Schultz declares that 
there is no self-righteousness in Israel, that there is 
only a righteousness given by God and springing from 
free grace, lie docs not state (lie matter correctly, but 
confounds the view of the Old Testament with that of 



318 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the New. 1 It is true that the covenant of Jehovah with 
his people is represented as a pure favor on the part of 
God. But when this grace is once granted by God and 
accepted by the people, God is bound by his righteous- 
ness and his faithfulness to grant his blessings to his 
people, as they are bound to be righteous and faithful, 
that they may not be punished or rejected by God. 
And what is true of the entire people is true also of 
each individual Israelite. He who does not strictly 
observe the commands of God cannot share in his cov- 
enant and his blessings. It is impossible to cite here 
all the passages that contain such a declaration, but 
this is not necessary for one who is acquainted with 
the Old Te'stament; it will suffice to refer to Deuter- 
onomy and the book of Job, the worthiest productions of 
the early religion of Israel. The former of these books 
expresses the view dominant in the Old Testament in 
these words : " Jehovah hath commanded us to put into 
practice all these laws, and to fear Jehovah, our God, 
that we may always be happy, and that he may preserve 
us alive." 2 This view is also maintained against Job 
by his friends, when they say to him : " Doth not thy 
fear of God sustain thee ? Is not thy hope, thy integ- 
rity ? " 3 The tragical character of the book of Job arises 
from the fact that the traditional religion of Israel 
demands that the hero of the book be perfectly happy, 
because of his integrity and his uprightness, while, in 
reality, he is very unhappy. That happiness bears an 
exact ratio to faithfulness, was a fundamental principle 
in the Israelitish religion, and when facts happened to 
belie it, the believer, as the book of Job shows, was 
1 II. 30 f. 2 Deut. vi. 24 ; comp. xxx. 15 ff. 3 Job iv. 0. 



THIRD PERIOD. § S3. ETHICAL LIFE. 319 

thrown into great embarrassment. Take, again, the 
prayer of the sick Hezekiah asking God to cure him : 
"Jehovah! remember that I have walked before thy 
face in faithfulness and integrity of heart, and that I 
have done what is good in thy eyes ! " x Here is an 
expression of the feeling that must have filled the heart 
of every Israelite who was, or believed himself, faith- 
ful, and that, in fact, often recurs in the Psalms, a 
considerable number of which date from the period 
before the Exile. 2 

Though the idea of the merit of works is inseparable 
from the essence of the religion of Israel, this idea was 
nevertheless destined to gain much in intensity in the 
midst of Judaism, when the voice of the prophets had 
died away, and the letter of the law, especially of the 
ceremonial law, had become the basis of religion. 
External practices always played an important part in 
the religion of Israel, which was far from comprehend- 
ing that God is a spirit, and that he must be worshipped 
in spirit and in truth. But the prophets vigorously 
opposed the external and superficial piety of the multi- 
tude, and sought to awaken in the heart a more vital 
piety. After the Exile, on the contrary, prophetism 
disappeared, and external worship, developed under the 
influence of a marked predilection for it, obtained legal 
sanction in document C. Thenceforward formalism 
and legalism, so agreeable to the natural tendencies of 
the human heart, which seeks an easy and comfortable 
religion, got the upper hand and with it the claim to 
self-righteousness. 

1 2 Kings xx. 3. 

2 Fs. vii. 8; xvii. 1 (T. ; .vviii. 20, 21 ; xwi. ; xxxv. 23 f. ; \li. 12; 
xliv. 17 IT. ; etc. 



820 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The example of Nehemiah, one of the fathers of Juda- 
ism, is a striking proof of this. The principal object 
of his efforts was to lead the people to submit to the 
ceremonial law. Xow he imagined that he thus ac- 
quired the greatest merit. He is constantly saying: 
" Remember me in favor, O my God, on account of all 
that I have done for this people ! Forget not my pious 
deeds ! " 1 Daniel, likewise, says to King Nebuchadnez- 
zar: "Cancel thy sins b}^ kindnesses and thy iniquities 
by compassion toward the unfortunate, and thy happi- 
ness may be prolonged." 2 Finally, the book of Tobit 
frequently and naively expresses the idea of the merit 
of works, especially alms and other acts of charity done 
to the brethren. 3 It goes so far as to declare that alms 
deliver from death and cleanse from all sin, and that 
those who give alms will be blessed with long life. 4 

II. Exclusivism. 

Another characteristic feature of the religion of Israel, 
which we encounter from early times, and which takes 
exaggerated proportions in Judaism, is a hostile atti- 
tude toward strangers. The fundamental idea of this 
religion, that God has chosen Israel from among all the 
peoples of the earth to make them a peculiar people, 
must naturally give birth to national pride, though, in 
theory, it was admitted that this covenant was purely a 
divine favor. By virtue of their election, Israel believed 
themselves possessed of peculiar privileges and rights 

1 Nek. v. 10 ; xiii. 14, 22, 31. 2 iv. 27. 

3 i. 2 f., 10 ff. ; ii. 2 IT., 14 ; iv. 7 ft, 1G ; xii. 8 f. ; xiv. 2, 7 ff. 



xii. i). 



THIKD PERIOD. — § 33. ETHICAL LIFE. 321 

over all the other peoples. Hence the thought that they 
could exterminate without scruple the inhabitants of 
the land of Canaan, and that they must make alliance 
with no foreign people. This view is expressed not 
only in the early documents, but even in Deuteronomy. 1 
In the prophetical period this exclusive tendency was 
modified by a higher view. The prophets express the 
hope of a universal salvation. In Deuteronomy we 
frequently find the injunction to deal kindly with the 
strangers who live in the midst of Israel. This breadth, 
the product of the prophetical spirit, could not be de- 
veloped in the midst of Judaism; it was stifled, like so 
many other excellent elements of prophetism, until 
the time when the gospel revivified these germs of truth 
and life, and allowed them to be even more grandly 
developed. 

The tendenc} 7 of which we have just spoken mani- 
fested itself from the return of the exiles onward. 
The Samaritans, since they worshipped the same God 
as the Jews, desired to take part in the restoration of 
the temple. This offer of fraternal cooperation, instead 
of being favorably accepted, was repelled, and the 
Samaritans were informed that they had neither part 
nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem. 2 It is well 
known that this was the beginning of a hateful rivalry 
that lasted for centuries. Exaggeration of the national 
sentiment and the national purity was also the chief 
cause of the pitiless dismissal of all foreign wives, 
required by Ezra and Nehemiah. 3 Complete separation 
from strangers appears to have been an essential feature 

1 Chap. vii. - Ezra iv. 2 f. ; Neh. ii. 20. 

* Ezra ix. f .; Xeli. xiii. 2:] if. 



322 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

of Jewish fidelity. 1 What a difference between this 
view and that betrayed by the book of Ruth, in which 
conjugal union between Israelites and Moabites appears 
so harmless that the author undertakes to show that one 
of the ancestors of David was the Moabitess, Ruth ! 

The national pride of the Jews finds expression in 
the book of Daniel. Canaan is called the most beauti- 
ful of all countries ; 2 the Jews receive the extravagant 
title of saints of the Most-High, 3 and appear as the 
favorites of God ; 4 finally, even the glorification of 
their God by the mouths of the gentiles is to serve 
to enhance the glory of the Jews. 5 This tendency 
reaches its culmination in the book of Esther. With 
boundless national pride is here associated a profound 
hatred of enemies, and an extreme pleasure in the ven- 
geance taken upon them; the whole is crowned by a 
feast destined to perpetuate the memory of the massa- 
cre of their enemies. The same spirit recurs in the 
book of Judith. It, in fact, confesses that all means 
are allowable by which the Jews can destroy their 
enemies, and that God will grant success even to per- 
fidious and criminal enterprises undertaken with this 
object; 6 it also expresses the conviction that God, on 
the day of judgment, will execute vengeance upon all 
the enemies of the Jews, sending fire and worms upon 
their bodies to torment them forever. 7 Sirach himself 
approves hatred of enemies and vengeance taken on 

i Neh. ix. 2 ; x. 28, 30 ; xiii. 30. 2 viii. ; xi. 16, 41. 

3 vii. 18, 21 f., 25, 27 ; viii. 24 ; xii. 7. 

4 i. 17 ff.; ii. 25 ff., 46 ff.; iii. 30 ; iv. 8 f., 18; v. 11, 14, 29; vi. 28. 
s ii. 47 ; iii. 20, 28 f. ; iv. 1-3, 34-37 ; vi. 20, 25-27. 

6 Chaps, viii. ff. 7 xvi. 17. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 33. ETHICAL LIFE. 323 

them. 1 A considerable number of psalms contain un- 
disguised expressions of the same sentiments, for 
example this prayer to God: "Shed thy fuiy upon the 
nations that know not thee, and upon the kingdoms that 
call not upon thy name." 2 These are sentiments 
entirely opposed to those of most of the prophets, who 
wished and hoped that Jehovah would make his name 
known to all nations. Elsewhere a psalmist cries: 
"Daughter of Babylon, the wasted, happy he who 
repayeth thee in kind the evil that thou hast done us ! 
Happy he who seizeth thy children, and clasheth them 
upon the rock! " 3 Other psalms give utterance to the 
same spirit of hatred and vengeance against enemies, 
against strangers. 4 

III. Scepticism. 

The formalism and the narrowness that we have 
found to have existed in the midst of Judaism prove 
conclusively that the religious and moral life was 
growing feeble. Another not less evident proof of the 
same fact is the scepticism that shows itself in the book 
of Ecclesiastes. Scepticism is very often a fruit of 
superficial formalism and haughty narrowness. When 
these two lamentable tendencies become dominant in a 
people, reflecting persons, who have no real piety, easily 
allow themselves to fall into scepticism, the distress- 
ing conviction so often repeated in Ecclesiastes: "All 
is vanity! " 

1 Chap. xii. ; xxv. 7 ; xxx. 6 ; xxxiii. 7 ff. 

2 I's. Ixxix. 6 ; comp. .lit', x. 25. :! Ps. exxxvii. 8 f. 
1 xviii. :]7 IT. ; xli. Id; lv. 15; lviii. 10; lxix. 22 ft'. ; cix. 6 ft. 



324 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The problem of life that confronts one in the book of 
Job is equally prominent in Ecclesiastes. But while, 
in the former book, faith triumphs over doubt, without, 
however, solving the problem stated, in the second, it 
is doubt that seems to prevail over faith. The proposi- 
tion that constantly recurs in Ecclesiastes is that all is 
vanity: toils, pleasures, wisdom, wealth, power, 1 the 
practice of righteousness, 2 even existence itself. 3 This 
scepticism is, however, not absolute. Not to speak of 
the close of the book, 4 of which the authenticity is not 
admitted by everybody, we rind in it, in several pas- 
sages, the expression not only of faith, but of confidence 
in God, 5 and the injunction to fear God, 6 on account of 
the judgment which no one will escape. 7 The last two 
verses of the book, 8 so far from being a heterogeneous 
addition, is, therefore, in complete accord with the 
rest of it. 

This faith in God, in virtue and retribution, which 
our author seeks to retain, in spite of all the objections 
of reason, prevents him from falling into the abyss of 
impiety or despair. But this faith is not powerful 
enough to become truly triumphant. It is in conflict 
with the objections of reason from one end of the book 
to the other. Though the author maintains his faith 
to the end, the objections also retain to the end all their 
force. In Job we find, as a conclusion, believing res- 
ignation to the sovereign will of God; in Ecclesiastes 
there is hardly anything but submission to fate. 

1 i. 2, 17 f. ; ii. 1, 11, 15, 10, 23, 25 f.; iii. 19 ; iv. 4, 7 f., 1G ; v. 10 ; 
vi. ; vii. 6 ; xii. 10. 2 vii. 15 f.; viii. 10, 14 ; ix. 1-3. 

3 ii. 17 ; iv. 2 f.; vii. 1. 4 xii. 11-16. 

s iii. 10 f., 14, 17 ; v. 18 ff. ; vii. 13 f., 20. 
6 v. 7 ; vii. 18 ; viii. 12 f . ; xii. 3. 7 xii. 1. 8 xii. 15 f. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 33. ETHICAL LIFE. 325 

This book, even more clearly than that of Job, shows 
the insufficiency of the religious principles of the Old 
Testament, the impossibility of solving with their aid 
the problem of life satisfactorily. It lays one's ringer 
on the source of this insufficiency, viz. the want of 
hope, hope in the life everlasting. 1 Reuss justly says 
of this book : " It is the last attempt made by Hebrew 
philosophy to conjure doubts henceforth irresistible, to 
solve the problem of life without leaving the narrow 
circle of ancient beliefs. And this attempt, so far 
from succeeding, issues in the confession, as sad as it is 
sincere, of its own vanity, nay we should rather say, 
in complete bankruptcy of reason." 2 

IV. Wisdom. 

Pharisaism, exclusivism, scepticism, — do these three 
words express the entire moral and religious life of 
the Jews? By no means; they characterize only one 
side of it. Formalism and exclusivism are in a man- 
ner the legal and official tendency of Judaism. But 
just as these defects are only the exaggeration of cer- 
tain inferior principles of the ancient religion of Israel, 
so the higher side of this religion continued to exercise 
a happy and powerful influence in the midst of Judaism, 
and produced some new fruits. 

The book of Jonah, for example, gives utterance to 
a breadth of sentiment toward the gentiles that we find 
nowhere else in the Old Testament. Not only is Jonah 

1 iii. 18-22; vi. 11 f. ; ix. 4 f., 11. 

2 Philo8ophie des Hebreux, p. 288 ; [Driver, Introduction to the Lit- 
erature of the Old Testament, p. 113). 



326 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

commissioned by Gocl to preach repentance to Nineveh, 
a city hostile to Israel, at which so many prophets in the 
name of Jehovah hurled the most violent threats; but 
God forgives this city, because it shows itself repent- 
ant. While the Jews generally hated and despised the 
gentiles, here is a book, which, like deutero-Isaiah and 
the Gospel, teaches them that they must be the light of 
the nations, to lead them to salvation. To our period 
belong also a large number of psalms that breathe a pro- 
found faith, a piety just as vital as that which we find 
in the prophetical literature. A portion of the Prov- 
erbs, and especially the first nine chapters, also belong 
to our period. What a profound attachment to virtue 
finds expression in them! In the book of Sirach and 
in that of Baruch there are also fine pages, betraying 
the same faith, the same religious and moral life, as the 
best canonical books. It is the same with Wisdom, 
though this book has a strong philosophical tinge. We 
shall not go into details to prove all this because it 
would necessitate the repetition in great measure of 
what we have learned in the second period. We shall 
confine ourselves to noticing that which is new and 
characteristic in our period, not that which it has in 
common with the preceding periods. 

Several documents of Judaism are characterized by 
the fact that in them virtue is represented as true wis- 
dom. According to the oldest documents the first duty 
of Israel is the practice of righteousness to please the 
righteous God. The later documents rise to the idea 
of the wisdom of God; hence the statement is very 
frequent that the true Israelite should seek and prac- 
tise' wisdom. This mode of thought and expression 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 33. ETHICAL LIFE. 327 

first appears in the book of Job and in the Proverbs ; 
it is the ruling one in Sirach and Wisdom. Erroneous 
ideas on this subject have more than once found utter- 
ance : let us then try to bring to light the truth con- 
cerning it. 

Oehler makes a striking distinction between the 
wisdom books and the other books of the Old Testa- 
ment. The former are, in his opinion, the product of 
a less direct divine inspiration ; the sentence of the sage 
cannot be placed on the same level as the word of Jeho- 
vah; it is the product of his experience and reflection. 1 
Bruch goes still farther. He not only distinguishes 
the sages from the priests and the prophets, he contrasts 
the two parties, making the first free-thinkers, but 
slightly attached to the theocratic and traditional re- 
ligion of Israel, veritable philosophers who, like philo- 
sophers in general, rose by the exercise of their reason 
from the empirical and accidental to the absolute. 2 
Now we think that these two scholars are mistaken. In 
Israel no distinction was made, as there is among us, 
between natural and supernatural revelation, between 
a less and a more direct divine inspiration, between the 
products of an unassisted and an inspired reason; they 
thought that everything in the world depended abso- 
lutely and directly upon God. AVe have even seen 
that objective wisdom is identified witli the spirit and 
the word of Clod, that it is represented as an emanation 
from God, and as the source of the subjective wisdom 
of man. This latter, then, is not the product of pure 
reason but of divine wisdom, as the prophetic preach- 
ing is the product of divine inspiration. It lias for its 
1 § 235. - Weisheitslehre d< r Hebraer, pp. -IS ff. 



328 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

basis faith and not speculation. Finalty it pursues a 
practical and not a speculative or theoretical object like 
philosophy. 

The sages in Israel believe in the same God as the 
rest of the people. They do not oppose the traditional 
religion ; they take it as their foundation. This is seen 
in Job and Ecclesiastes, where a critical tendency can 
be more easily discovered than elsewhere. In the wis- 
dom books it is possible, it is true, to cite passages in 
which external worship is opposed; but similar pas- 
sages are also found in the prophets. These books do 
not concern themselves about the future of the king- 
dom of God; but the prophets themselves have the 
present much more in view than the future, and in all 
the legislative documents of the Old Testament the 
messianic hope is left out of sight. The sages in 
Israel, the prophets, the legislators, and the historians, 
pursued one and the same object, — to teach their people 
the fear of God and incline them to faithfully keep his 
commandments. When compared with the points of 
likeness, the differences among them are merely secon- 
daiy; they are differences of form and not of substance. 
The most important is perhaps that the prophets, legis- 
lators, and historians, give their principal attention to 
the people as a whole, while the sages prefer to fix 
theirs upon the individual life. This is the reason why 
the latter leave out of sight the future of the kingdom 
of God, which is identified with the future of the peo- 
ple Israel. But, after these general considerations, let 
us see what the Scriptures themselves say of subjective 
wisdom, that we may corroborate what has just been 
said. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 33. ETHICAL LIFE. 329 

The wisdom of man merits no confidence. 1 True 
wisdom is not found on earth; it is hidden from the 
eyes of men ; it can only be found with God, who is its 
source. 2 Those who do evil do not understand what is 
righteous, but those who seek God understand every- 
thing. 3 The law of God and the observance of the law 
secure true wisdom. 4 It is only bestowed on souls that 
love it, that seek it hj prayer, and keep themselves from 
evil. 5 The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. 6 
Both alike consist in keeping the commandments of 
God, which they at the same time make man capable of 
doing, thus rendering him virtuous ; 7 they consist in, 
and incline to, hatred and avoidance of evil. 8 Thus they 
secure to man all sorts of blessings, especially life. 9 
While wisdom is closely related to the fear of God on 
the one hand, it is just as closely related to chastise- 
ment on the other. 10 This latter may come from God 
0]- man, but if it be received with submission it leads 



1 Prov. iii. 5, 7 ; xxx. 2 ff . ; Wis. ix. G. 

2 Job xxviii. 12-28 ; xxxii. 8 f. ; Prov. viii. 22-3G ; ii. ; 1 Kings iii. 
12 ; Ex. xxxi. 3, 6 ; xxxvi. 1 f. ; Ecol. ii. 26 ; Sir. i. 1, 2G ; Bar. iii. 15 
ff., 20 ff. ; Wis. vii. 7, 15 ; viii. 21 ; ix. 10, 17. 3 Prov. xxviii. 5. 

* Ps. xix. 7 f. ; xxxvii. 30 f . ; cxix. 08 ff., 130; Sir. i. 20; xxiv. 
23-27 ; xxxix. 1 ff. 

s 1 Kings iii. 10 ff. ; Sir. i. 10 ; xv. 1 ff. ; li. 19 ff. ; Wis. i. 4 f. ; vi. 
12 IT., 17 IT.; vii. 7, 27; viii. 21 -ix. 1 ff. 

,; Job. xxviii. 28 ; Prov. i. 7, 20; ix. 10; Ps. cxi. 10 ; Sir. i. 14, 10, 
20, 27. 

7 Deut. iv. G ; vi. 2, 13, 24 ; viii. (5 ; Keel. xii. 15 ; Sir. xix. 20 ; Wis. 
viii. 7. 

8 Job xxviii. 2S ; Prov. ii. 10 IT. ; iii. 7 ; viii. 13 ; xiv. 10 ; xvi. G. 

9 Prov. iii. 1 f., 10-18 ; iv. 8 ff. ; viii. 12 IT., 33-36 ; ix. 10 f. ; x. 27 ; 
xiii. 11 ; xiv. -J.1 ; xvi. 22 ; xix. 23 ; xxiv. 3 IT. ; Eccl. vii. 12. 



330 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

in both cases to wisdom. 1 Thus one must be humble 
and docile to become wise. 2 Chastisement, like wis- 
dom and the fear of God, leads to life. 3 From the 
foregoing it is easy to perceive that wisdom is of in- 
calculable value. 4 The opposite of the sage is the fool, 
who says in his heart that there is no God, 5 and who 
finds pleasure in doing evil. 6 Thus by associating 
with fools, one becomes depraved. 7 

It is plain that Israelitish wisdom is essentially relig- 
ious and practical, and that its character is misunder- 
stood when it is identified with philosophy. Even in 
Job and Ecclesiastes, the two canonical books in which, 
if anywhere, it would be possible to find a philosophical 
tendency, the problems proposed are treated only from 
the standpoint of practical life. Israelitish wisdom 
takes no account of abstract or purely metaphysical 
questions. It feels still less need of elaborating a 
system of philosophy or dogmatics ; at least no trace of 
one is found anywhere in the Old Testament. It is 
only the apocryphal book of Wisdom and other writings 
of Alexandrian Judaism, in which speculation begins 
to appear. But in these we no longer have pure prod- 
ucts of the Israelitish mind. These documents were 
greatly influenced by Greek philosophy. 

The essential object pursued by Israelitish wisdom is 
expressed in these words of Ecclesiastes, which are, in 
a sense, a resume of the religion of Israel: "Fear God 

1 Prov. i. 1 f., 8 ; iii. 11-13 ; iv. 1 ; vi. 20 ; viii. 33 ; xii. 1 ; xiii. 1, 
24 ; xv. 5 ; xix. 20 ; Job v. 17 ; Ps. xlix. 11. 

2 Prov. xi. 2. 3 p rov . j v> 13 . x . 17. 

4 Job xxviii. 15-19; Prov. iii. 13-18; viii. 11; xvi. 16; xx. 15; 
Eccl. vii. 19 ; ix. 10 ; Sir. vi. 30 f. ; xxiv. 20 ; Wis. vii. 8-10, 14 ; viii. 5. 

5 Ps. xiv. 1 ; liii. 1. ° Prov. x. 23 ; xiv. 9. "' Prov. xiii. 20. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 34. APOCALYPSE OF DANIEL. 331 

and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty 
of man." 1 The tendency here dominant is also apparent 
in the beautiful passage of Proverbs enjoining that the 
heart be watched more than anything else, because from 
it flow the sources of life. 2 We should, moreover, add 
that it is easy to find in the wisdom books, especially 
Proverbs and Sirach, passages in which wisdom is only 
prudence, inspired by utilitarian considerations, and 
having for its sole object the attainment of happiness 
and the avoidance of misfortune. Thus vice is often 
represented as folly, bringing one to misfortune and 
destruction. 

§ 34. THE APOCALYPSE OP DANIEL. 

From Malachi to Daniel we must leap a great space 
of time during which there were no prophets. There 
were none in the times of the Maccabees, 3 the date of 
the book of which we have still to treat, whose author 
distinguishes himself from the prophets. 4 The great 
distance that separates this book from the old propheti- 
cal books explains, in part, the difference as to general 
character existing between them. We have here, as it 
were, a continuation of ancient prophetism, predictions, 
the great majority of which relate to the end of the 
world and the establishment of the Messianic kingdom. 
These predictions are even more precise than those of 
any of the old prophetical books. The result is that 
the book of Daniel lias been regarded as the prophetical 
book par excellence by the theology that identifies proph- 

i xii. 15. -' iv. 23. 

3 1 Mace. iv. 40 ; ix. 27 ; xiv. 41. ' Dan. ix.O. 



332 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ecy with prediction of the future. If, on the other 
hand, prophecy be understood as prophetic preaching, 
such as we find in Israel down to the time of Malachi, 
it will be admitted that the book of Daniel belongs to 
another class of writings, to that of apocalypses. We 
possess a number, among which our book takes the 
first place as respects antiquity. But of all the prod- 
ucts of this kind two only are honored with a place in 
the biblical canon: our book and the apocalypse of 
John. 

These two books have generally been misunderstood. 
Until lately a sound and correct method of interpreta- 
tion for them had not been adopted. But here, as else- 
where, it was very difficult for truth to triumph over 
hoary error. Many conservative theologians insist on 
following the wanderings of traditional exegesis, pre- 
ferring arbitrary interpretations to the results of the his- 
torical and only true method. If one undertakes with- 
out prejudice the study of these two books, one does 
not meet the difficulties which have often been found 
therein, which, in fact, are due to the false standpoint 
from which they are usually studied. Confining our- 
selves to the book of Daniel, we shall begin by consid- 
ering the last three chapters, Avhich are very simple and 
clear, and which furnish the key to the principal pre- 
dictions contained in the others. 

Chapter x. tells us how Daniel, in a vision, received 
a communication concerning that which was afterward 
to befall his people. Chapter xi. next unfolds before 
our eyes the history of the period from Cyrus to Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes. There is first a brief reference to 
the three successors of. Cyrus and the short-lived domin- 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 34. APOCALYPSE OF DANIEL. 333 

ion of Alexander, whose empire is soon to be divided. 1 
The author dwells at greater length on the history of 
the Ptolemies and the Seleucides, with which he was 
evidently more familiar. 2 He finally reaches Antiochus 
Epiphanes and devotes to him even more space. 3 

He speaks first of his wars against Egypt, on his 
return from which he turned his arms against the people 
of the covenant. 4 He then announces that Antiochus 
will direct a new attack against Egypt, but that he will 
not succeed, because of the interference of the Romans, 
and that then he will divert his fury against the Jewish 
people ; he will leave troops in Palestine who will pro- 
fane the sanctuaiy, cause the daily sacrifice to cease 
and set up the abomination of the destroyer; he will, 
by his flatteries, seduce the unfaithful Jews ; but those 
of the people who acknowledge God will act with firm- 
ness and instruct the multitude, which will bring upon 
them persecution. 5 The author adds that Antiochus 
will uplift himself against all the gods and say incredi- 
ble things against the God of gods ; but that he will 
honor the god of the fortresses {Jupiter Capitolinus) 
whom his fathers did not know. 6 At the time of the 
end, a last conflict will take place between this king 
and the king of Egypt; the former will be victorious 
and invade Palestine, while Edom, Moab, and Amnion 
will be spared; but news from the east and the north 
will come to frighten him; lie will depart with great 

1 vv. 2-4. 

2 vv. 5-20. For the explanation of the details of this and the 
following passages, see the commentaries. 

»ot.21 IT. 

4 vv. 21-28 ; comp. 1 Mace. i. 17-20 ; 2 Marc. v. 11 ff. 

5 vv. 2!)-:).", ; comp. I Mace, i. 30. *vv. 36-39. 



334 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

fury to destroy multitudes ; lie will pitch his camp be- 
tween the sea and the holy mountain; then he will 
come to his end, with no one to help him. 1 At that 
time, which will be a time of distress such as there has 
not been since the nations existed, the Jews written in 
the book of life will be saved ; their dead will arise, 
some to life everlasting and others to everlasting dis- 
grace. A peculiar glory will be bestowed upon those 
who have taught righteousness to others. This change 
will be produced by Michael, the great chief of the 
Jewish people, who defends it against the chief of 
the kingdom of the Persians and against that of the 
Greeks. 2 The end of the world and the inauguration 
of the Messianic kingdom is, in fact, to come three and 
a half years or a thousand two hundred and ninety days 
after Antiochus has caused the perpetual sacrifice to 
cease and set up the abomination in the temple. 3 

Making what has just been said our starting-point, 
we shall avoid any difficulty in understanding the 
other more mysterious predictions of our book, touch- 
ing the end of the world and the inauguration of the 
Messianic kingdom. 

The first of these predictions is found in Chapter ii. 
Nebuchadnezzar had had a dream which he could not 
recall, but of Avhich he nevertheless desired an inter- 
pretation. Now since the wise men of Babylon could 
not tell the dream and its interpretation, he had them 
put to death. Then the God of the heavens revealed 
the secret to Daniel, who made it known to the king. 
In this dream Nebuchadnezzar had seen a great statue, 

1 vv. 40-45. 2 xii. 1-3 ; x. 13-20 f. 

3 xii. 4-13 ; comp- xi. 31 ; 1 Mace. i. 4(5 f., 57 ; vi. 7. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 34. APOCALYPSE OF DANIEL. 335 

whose head was of gold, the breast and the arms of silver, 
the belly and the thighs of brass, the legs of iron, the feet 
partly of iron and partly of clay ; then a stone had loosed 
itself without the aid of hands, it had smitten the feet 
of iron and clay, of the statue, and broken them in 
pieces ; then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, 
and the gold had all been broken and had become like 
the chaff that escapes from a threshing-floor in summer; 
the wind had carried them away and no trace of them 
had been discovered; but the stone that smote the statue 
had become a great mountain filling the whole earth. 1 
According to the explanation given b} r Daniel, the 
golden head is Nebuchadnezzar and his empire. 2 The 
breast represents a kingdom inferior to his. 3 This is 
evidently that of the Medes and not that of the Persians, 
which was greater and mightier than that of the Chal- 
deans. According to the author of our book, the last 
king of the Chaldeans was replaced by Darius the Mede, 4 
who inaugurated a new dynasty. The third kingdom, 
which will be of brass and is destined to rule the whole 
earth, 5 is that of the Persians. 6 Our author distin- 
guishes the kingdom and the kings of the Medes from 
those of the Persians, and connects with Cyrus a neAV 
dynasty, that of the Persians, as lie connects that of the 
Medes with Darius. 7 The fourth kingdom, partly 
strong as iron and partly fragile as clay, which is to be 
divided, 8 is therefore the kingdom of the Greeks. The 
alliances which will not issue in a real union 9 are those 

Mi. 31-35. 2 v. 38. »«. 39. 

4 v. 30; vi. 1 ; ix. 1 ; xi. 1. 6 ii. 30. 

c Comp. Ezra i. 2. 7 vi. 28 ; viii. 20 ; x. 1. 

Mi. 40-12. 9 ii. 43. 



336 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

of the Seleucides and the Ptolemies, 1 who will not 
attain union with each other by a lasting peace. In the 
days of these kings the God of the heavens will raise 
up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, that will 
not pass under the rule of another people, that will 
break and destroy all these kingdoms and itself endure 
forever. 2 All this agrees admirably with what we have 
seen above, viz., that the Messianic kingdom will 
immediately succeed that of the Greeks, in the time of 
the Ptolemies and the Seleucides, or more exactly in 
that of Antiochus Epiphanes. This will be confirmed 
by what follows. 

The second messianic prediction of our book is found 
in Chapter vii. Daniel had a nocturnal vision, in which 
he saw four different animals come forth from the sea. 
The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings; the 
second was like a bear and Avas to eat much flesh. The 
third was like a leopard, and had four wings and four 
heads. The fourth was terrible and extraordinarily 
strong; he had great iron teeth, he ate, broke, and trod 
under foot what remained; he had ten horns, but a little 
horn came forth from their midst and three of the first 
horns were broken before this horn, which had eyes like 
man's eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly. Then 
Daniel saw the ancient of days seat himself upon his 
throne surrounded by thousands of servants, to proceed 
to judgment; the animals were stripped of their might 
and the fourth was slain and cast into the fire, because of 
the arrogant words uttered by the horn. After that he 
saw coming in the clouds of heaven some one resembling 
a son of man, who approached the ancient of days ; to 

i xi. G, 2 ii. 44. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 34. APOCALYPSE OF DANIEL. 337 

him was given dominion, glory, and kingship, and all 
the peoples served him; his dominion is an everlasting 
dominion and his kingdom is never to be destroyed. 1 
Daniel inquired of an angel the meaning of all these 
things, and learned that the four beasts were four kings 
who were to arise from the earth. 2 He desired expressly 
to know the truth concerning the fourth animal, 
concerning the ten horns that it had on its head, and 
concerning that which had come forth from among the 
others and appeared greater than they, which he had 
seen make war on the saints of the Most-High and over- 
come them until the time when the ancient of da.js 
came to do them justice and put them in possession of 
the kingdom. 3 He received this explanation: The 
fourth animal is a fourth kingdom that will devour all 
the earth; the ten horns are ten kings who will arise 
from this kingdom ; another will come after them who 
will be different from the first and who will humble 
three kings; he will utter words against the Most- 
High; he will oppress the saints of the Most-High, and 
he will hope to change the times and the law; the 
saints will be delivered into his hands for a time, two 
times and half a time, i.e. three and a half years; then 
will come the judgment, the dominion will be taken 
from this king, and everlasting dominion over all 
the kingdoms that are under heaven will be given 
to the people of the saints of the Most-High. 4 It is 
evident that the little horn on which the author of our 
book especially dwells, is Antiochus Epiphanes, 5 whose 

i vii. 1-14. 2 vii. 15-17. « v jj. 10-22. 4 vii. 23-27. 

B *Comp. what is said in this chapter with xi. 31, 36; 1 Mace. i. 
46 If. ; -1 .Mace. vi. 0. 



338 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

dominion must come to an end after three and a half 
years, according to verse 25 of our chapter, as accord- 
ing to xii. 7. The fourth animal, then, represents the 
Greek empire founded by Alexander, and the ten horns 
of his head ten kings, his successors; the third animal 
is the Persian empire, and its four heads are four kings, 
our author not being acquainted with a greater number; 1 
the second animal is naturally the Medean empire, and 
the first the Babylonian empire. According to this 
chapter, also, the Messianic empire is to immediately 
follow that of the Greeks in the time of Antiochus 
Epiphanes. Thus far all the competent and impartial 
exegetes of our day are agreed; but they differ on the 
question, Who is the some one like a son of man who 
comes on the clouds of heaven and obtains everlasting 
dominion over all the peoples? 2 The general opinion 
has always been that it is the Messiah. Even in the book 
of Enoch this latter receives the title, Son of man. 3 It 
is also well known that Jesus preferred this title as a 
Messianic designation for himself. But as the book of 
Daniel nowhere speaks of the Messiah, though it sa} r s 
much of the coming' of the Messianic kingdom, some 
modern scholars have thought that this expression serves 
to designate, not the Messiah, but the Messianic king- 
dom; that this latter is compared to a man coming from 
heaven, on account of its high dignity and its celestial 
origin, while the heathen powers, the powers of this 
world, are compared to animals coming forth from the 
sea, on account of their inferior dignity and their ter- 

i xi. 2. - vii. 13 f. 

3 Wittichen, Beitrdge znr bibl. Theol. II. pp. 67 ff., III. p. 128; 
Stapfer, p. 123 ; [Toy, p. 354]. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 34. APOCALYPSE OF DANIEL. 339 

restrial origin. What favors this view is that in the 
explanatory part of our chapter the kingdom is con- 
stantly promised to the saints of the Most-High, 1 i.e. 
to the Jewish people. 

Chapter viii. contains another vision of Daniel. A 
ram appeared to him that had two horns, one of which 
was higher than the other and rose last. This ram 
smote with his horns toward the east, the north, and 
the south, and no other animal was able to resist him. 2 
Daniel then saw a he-goat coming from the west, that 
passed through the whole earth without touching it, 
and had a great horn between the eyes ; and he smote 
the ram, and broke his two horns, and cast him to the 
earth, and trampled on him, and no one could deliver 
him. But when this he-goat had become very mighty 
his great horn was broken, and four great horns arose 
in its place toward the four winds of heaven. 3 From 
one of these went forth a little horn that grew much 
toward the south, the east, and the most beautiful of 
countries (Judea) ; it exalted itself to the host of heaven 
and to the chief of the host, from whom it removed the 
perpetual sacrifice, overthrowing his holy place ; it finally 
cast truth to the earth; and this profanation Avas to last 
two thousand and three hundred evenings and morn- 
ings, after which the sanctuary would be purified. 4 
According to the explanation that the angel Gabriel 
gives to Daniel, the rain represents the king of the 
Mcdes and Persians. 5 The smaller horn of the ram is 
the power of tin; Modes, and the larger that arose after- 
ward the power of the Persians; and since, according 

1 vv. 18, 22, 17. 2 w. 3 f. :; Comp. xi. I. 

4 viii. 5-14. 5 viii. 20. ''■ Comp. ii. 59. 



310 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

to history, the latter absorbed the former both may be 
represented by a single animal having two horns. As 
for the he-goat, it is the king of Javan, the king of 
Greece; the great horn between the eyes is the first 
king (Alexander); the four horns that arise to take 
the place of this broken horn are four kingdoms which 
will arise fiom this nation, but which will not have so 
much strength (they are the four kingdoms that were 
finally formed from the empire of Alexander); at the 
close of their dominion there will arise a shameless and 
crafty king whose power will grow, who will destroy 
the powerful and also the people of the saints, who will 
cause many peaceable men to perish, and will exalt him- 
self against the prince of princes ; but he will be broken 
without hands. 1 If we compare this vision with the 
preceding we see clearly that we again close with Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, the chief object of our book. It 
is he who is represented by the little horn that rises 
from one of the four horns, 2 or from the kingdom of 
Syria; for all that is here said of him agrees with the 
previous references to him. This vision, like those 
preceding, relates to the end of all things, the end of 
the world. 3 We have seen that the end will come when 
the people of the saints shall have been oppressed, 
and the perpetual sacrifice interrupted three and a half 
years, or 1290 da}^s. 4 According to our chapter this 
time is to last 2300 evenings and mornings, 5 or 1150 
days, which make only a little more than three years. 
The difference between the two intervals is, therefore, 



viii. 21-35. 2 viii. 9. 

viii. 17, 10, 23 ; comp. x. 14 ; xi. 35 f., 40. 

vii. 25; xii. 7, 11. 3 v. 14. 



THIRD PERIOD. — § 34. APOCALYPSE OF DANIEL. 341 

inconsiderable, and is explained by the very natural 
supposition that the visions of our book do not all date 
from the same time, that there was an interval between 
them. 

Chapter ix. informs us that Daniel, seeing from the 
book of Jeremiah 1 that the overthrow and oppression 
of Jerusalem was to last seventy years, wished to know 
how this prediction was to be understood. 2 This desire 
seems the more natural at the time when our book was 
composed, since several centuries had elapsed without 
the fulfilment of this prophecy, and the Jews still 
groaned under the hated yoke of the stranger. After an 
ardent prayer, in which Daniel confesses the sins of 
his people and implores the forgiveness of God, 3 the 
angel Gabriel comes to explain to him that the seventy 
years in question are weeks of years, or periods of seven 
years. This lapse of time was determined to put an 
end to sins, to expiate iniquity, to bring in everlasting 
righteousness, and to anoint the holy of holies. 4 From 
the date when the prophecy of Jeremiah was uttered to 
that when a prince will be anointed there are seven 
weeks ; for sixty-two more weeks the places and moats 
will be rebuilt, but in troublous times; then, in the 
last week an anointed one will be cut off, the city and 
the sanctuary will be destroyed by the people of a prince 
whose end will come as by a flood, who, for a week, will 
make a firm alliance with many, and will for half a week 
cause the sacrifice and offering to cease, who will conmii L 
the most abominable deeds until overthrow finally breaks 
upon him. 5 In spite of some obscurities in this proph- 

1 xxv. 11 ff. ; xxix. 10. 2 ix. 1 ff. :i ix. 5 it. 

4 Comp. viii. 14. r ° ix. 20 IT. 



342 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ecy the essential points are perfectly clear. Thus, the 
seventy years of Jeremiah become weeks of j^ears, 
i.e. periods of seven years. These seventy weeks of 
years are divided into three periods, of which the first 
includes seven weeks, or forty-nine years, the second 
sixty-two weeks, or 434 years, the third one week, or 
seven years. Since, according to vv. 26 f., the prince 
who is to reign during this last week will cause the 
sacrifice and offering to cease for half a week, i.e. for 
three and a half years, and since all that is here said 
perfectly agrees with what we have seen touching Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes and the end of the world, 1 we are 
authorized in sa}dng that this prophecy, like those pre- 
ceding, closes with this prince, that this is the limit 
of the prophetic horizon of our author, as well as the 
end of the ills of the Jewish people and the end of the 
world, which will be followed by the Messianic king- 
dom. As to the first period of seven weeks, it extends 
from the prediction of Jeremiah to Cyrus the anointed 
one, to whom reference is made in v. 25. 2 The second 
period of sixty-two weeks, then, necessarily extends 
from Cyrus to Antiochus. The anointed one who 
will be cut off at the end of this period is probably 
the high-priest Onias whose death is mentioned, 
2 Mace. iv. 34. This lapse of time, it is true, is more 
than half a century too short, according to exact 
chronology. But instead of taking useless pains to 
make this prediction agree with chronology, we must 
rather admit that, in the days of our author, the Jews 
did not have a thorough chronology, and that he him- 

1 See especially vii. 25 ; viii. 11-14 ; xi. 31, 36, 45 ; xii. 7, 11. 

2 Comp. Isa. xlv. 1. 



conclusion. 343 

self, in many a passage of his book, proves that he was 
acquainted only with the grand outlines of history. 
The historian Josephus made a similar mistake. 1 That 
here noticed ought to surprise us the less since our book 
has a practical and not a historical aim. 

Though the apocalypse of Daniel foretells the com- 
ing of the Messianic era in a series of prophecies, it 
nowhere gives a description of it, as most of the old 
prophets did. It is content with leading us to the 
threshold of the new era which is to begin with the ap- 
proaching end of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, the 
great persecutor of the faithful Jews and their religion. 
It is content to say repeatedly that this era will be that 
of the universal and everlasting dominion of the saints 
of the Most-High, i.e. of the faithful Jews, and, there- 
fore, of their God; 2 In this our author is inspired with 
the view of the old prophets ; it is the same when he 
teaches that the end of the world and the Messianic 
kingdom are very near, when he sees in the political 
events of his time the precursors of the final judgment, 
a prelude to the Messianic era. 

CONCLUSION. 

Having fulfilled our task as historian, we might now 
lay down our pen. Before doing so, however, we be- 
lieve it our duty to add some remarks in response, not 
to the historical, but to the religious interest, the inter- 
est of faith. 

The Bible was originally a book for the edification 

1 Schiiror, The Jewish People, etc., Div. I. Vol. I. p. 81. 

2 Sec especially Lv. '■'>. 



344 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

of the pious. Later the theologians made it a fountain 
of doctrine, a dogmatic authority, the supreme and 
infallible authority in matters of faith. Thenceforth 
it hardly occurred to any one to study the Bible except 
from the dogmatic standpoint. It was left for those of 
our day to begin to study it as a historical document, 
and according to the historical method. Biblical the- 
ology as a historical science is, in fact, of recent date. 
But there is now danger of going to the opposite extreme 
and studying the Bible henceforth only from the his- 
torical and critical standpoint, losing sight of its 
religious value, the value that it has for faith. 

We think that it is indispensable to study the Scrip- 
tures historically, that indeed we must commence in 
this way. It is the only way to avoid the erroneous 
view in which traditional dogmatism has always repre- 
sented it. This is the reason why, in our work, we 
have followed the strictly historical method. We 
think, however, that those who study the Bible by this 
method should take especial pains to show that its 
religious value is not impaired, as many people imag- 
ine. If they neglected this duty they would sin against 
believers. They would fix a great gulf between science 
and faith; they would prepare the way for divorcing 
historical truth from piety, a result that would be a sad 
one for both ; for faith would thenceforward be without 
truth, and truth without faith; faith would no longer 
be anything but superstition, and truth would become 
inseparable from unbelief. Such a divorce, then, is at 
any cost to be avoided, and these last few lines have for 
their object to show how this is possible. 

To examine, to study the Bible as we have done, is 



CONCLUSION. 345 

to take account of the historical development of the 
ideas and customs that are there revealed ; it is to show 
that these have not always been the same, that they 
have varied in the course of time ; it is to admit more 
or less important divergencies among the biblical docu- 
ments, doctrinal and historical errors committed by the 
sacred authors. This is what startles faith: it fears 
that it will see the foundation on which it rests shaken. 
Is it really so? In a sense, Yes. Faith in the ortho- 
dox sense of intellectual adherence to a dogmatic sys- 
tem, considered as perfect and infallible, because, as 
it claims, it is drawn from an infallible source, the 
Bible, and rests on its infallible authority, — such a faith 
is evidently impaired beyond recovery by the histori- 
cal study of the Bible. But is this true faith, faith 
in the biblical sense ? Certainly not. It is the product 
of Jewish rabbin ism and Christian dogmatism. 

Faith, as the Bible, especially the Old Testament, 
freed from rabbinical influence, understands it, is not 
faith in the sacred letter, the written word, but faith 
in the manifestation of God in history, in his interfer- 
ence in the world with a view to the salvation of hu- 
manity, faith in the living word, inspired by the divine 
spirit in the prophets, faith in the holy mission of 
these men of God. Now we claim that this faith is 
not impaired, and could not be by the historical study 
of the Bible, because this faith lias for its foundation 
not simple words, but facts, evident and undeniable 
facts. 

When, having shown the divergencies, contradic- 
tions, errors in the I>il)le, we go below the surface to 
the substance of tilings, wc arc obliged to admit that 



346 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the Bible has not only a human, imperfect, transitory 
side, but also a divine, perfect, unchangeable, eternal 
side. Some have wished to see only the former, others 
only the latter side. To be fully in the right we must 
recognize that one exists as well as the other. This 
is coming to be understood more and more even among 
conservative theologians. There, then, is hot the great 
difficulty. It is rather in separating, distinguishing, 
in the Bible, the divine from the human elements. 
This difficulty, together with habit and tradition, leads 
many pastors who would probably admit the human 
and imperfect side of the Scriptures, to speak of them 
nevertheless as if they were from one end to the other 
the unadulterated word of God. This is encouraging 
Christian people in an illusion which is thought inno- 
cent but which may, and many times does, become in- 
jurious. In fact when the people learn, and the day 
comes sooner or later, that the Bible contains errors, 
they are led to doubt revelation itself, since they have 
been made to believe that it is to be identified with the 
so-called infallible letter of the sacred Scriptures. 

What then is to be done? Can we distinguish in 
the Bible the human from the divine elements, the 
human errors from the divine truth ? Can we say that 
such a biblical word or text is inspired, and that such 
another is not? No, such a mode of procedure would, 
be very mechanical and superficial ; besides it would be 
impracticable. We must rather recognize that tradi- 
tional faith and theology have been led astray by the 
doctrine of the literal inspiration of the sacred code, 
invented by the Jewish rabbis and adopted by the Chris- 
tian doctors. It is not the dead letter in which inspir- 



CONCLUSION. 347 

ation and revelation are to be sought, as this doctrine 
would have it, but the direct action of the spirit of God 
upon the hearts of men. Let us explain, confining our- 
selves to the Old Testament, with which we have thus 
far had to do. 

We have just represented it as an undeniable fact 
that this part of the Scriptures contains errors. He 
who gives his attention exclusively to sacred criticism 
instead of attempting the historical reconstruction of 
the biblical teaching, as we have done, will be able to 
discover many more errors than have been casually 
noticed or become apparent from our work ; he will be 
able to show that there exist a large number of scien- 
tific, historical, and doctrinal errors. The fact that we 
have stated is therefore fully established. But there 
is another which it seems to us is just as well estab- 
lished; it is that the elite of the Israelitish nation — 
at the head of whom were the prophets, the psalmists, 
the sacred authors in general — were under the influ- 
ence of the spirit of God, which communicated to them 
a life and a loftier insight, of which we find the expres- 
sion, the translation, imperfect but actual, in the Old 
Testament. In the midst of the people Israel, origi- 
nally idolatrous, and subject to all the vices of the 
Semitic race, there was formed a nucleus of men of God 
much superior to those about them in faith, in insight, 
in ethical life. They were by no means perfect, either 
with respect to ideas or morals. They yielded in some 
measure to the influence of their time; for no one can 
completely withdraw himself from the influence of his 
age and his environment. But, in spite of the imper- 
fections that they shared with the men of their time, 



348 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

they rose to so pure ideas concerning God and our rela- 
tions to him, that thus far they have not been sur- 
passed. That which seems to us, however, still more 
remarkable than these ideas, to which the intellectualis- 
tic theology of the past has wrongly attributed an exag- 
gerated or even exclusive value, that which appears to 
us more important, is the superior life that distin- 
guished these men of God. There, especially, we 
clearly discover the divine activity. 

The history of ancient Greece proves that, left to its 
own powers, human thought can rise to very pure 
moral and religious conceptions, and give admirable 
precejDts. But it also proves that in spite of fine pre- 
cepts and lofty thoughts a people or an individual may 
remain morally corrupt. We meet this fact everywhere 
and in all times. Man is naturally egoistic, and incap- 
able of breaking the yoke of his egoism. There is 
therefore much more need of moral than of intellectual 
assistance, and purity of moral life is a safer criterion 
of the divine action upon the heart than lofty concep- 
tions. Now among the elite of the people Israel, and 
more particularly among the prophets, we find an ethical 
life that is truly remarkable. We find these men ani- 
mated by a sincere and profound love for God, by an 
ardent zeal for his glory and the establishment of his 
kingdom. These men forgot themselves, living only 
for God and their fellows, and that out of pure love for 
God and men ; they even endured, for the sake of the 
holy cause that they defended, the severest persecutions. 
When we examine the documents of the Old Testament, 
and especially the Psalms and the prophetical books, we 
find ourselves confronted not merely by a beautiful 



CONCLUSION. 349 

morality, beautiful precepts recommended to others; 
these writings are the living, so to speak, palpitating 
expression of what took place in their souls; we find 
there the expression and experience of a higher life, a 
life produced by God and devoted to God. Behind 
these writings Ave feel the beat of the hearts that in- 
spired them, and behind these hearts we feel a higher 
power, a divine, regenerating, sanctifying influence. 

We find then, in the midst of the people Israel, the 
foundation of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of truth 
and holiness, the substructure of that glorious edifice 
of which Christ has become the corner stone, which will 
continue to rise under the action of the same divine 
spirit that filled the prophets, and is the soul of all the 
development of the kingdom of God throughout the 
ages. Here then is a solid, immovable basis for faith. 
It rests, not upon simple words, but upon facts, his-, 
torical facts of which the aggregate constitutes the 
kingdom of God; facts 'which date from times the most 
remote and reveal to us traces of the action of God upon 
the heart, an action which we can discover through 
all the ages and even about us wherever there are be- 
lieving hearts; facts which we experience in our own 
hearts when we open them to the beneficent influence 
of the spirit of God. 

Faith is therefore not impaired by a scientific and 
historical study of the Bible. That which alone is im- 
paired is the dogmatism that must needs slay itself upon 
an infallible; authority. Faith and piety can do with- 
oni this authority because they can do without infalli- 
ble dogmatic truth. The apostle Paul confesses without 
reserve; that Christian knowledge is n<>( perfect here 



350 THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

below, that we can hope to attain a perfect knowledge 
only in eternity. 1 But in spite of his imperfect knowl- 
edge what mighty faith the great apostle of the gentiles 
possessed! And our faith may also be firm, powerful, 
living, though we have not a perfect knowledge of dog- 
matic and metaphysical truth, since we have no infalli- 
ble source and norm for this truth. 

It is enough for faith to have a firm foundation on 
which it can rest, to feel a mighty impulse urging it 
toward God, to possess a confident assurance that God 
graciously receives sinful man to pardon and sanctify 
him. It is enough for the world in general that God is 
so clearly revealed in his holiness and love that each 
can recognize his sinful condition, and then hope for 
the divine favor. This legitimate want is partly satis- 
fied even in the revelation of the old covenant; it is 
fully satisfied by the final revelation of the new cove- 
nant, to which we shall feel it a pleasure and a duty to 
turn our attention if the public favorably receive this, 
our first essay. 

1 1 Cor. xiii. 9-12. 



INDEXES. 



I. TOPICS TREATED. 



Aaron : in early documents, 46 ; ac- 
cording to C, 286 f . ; in Chronicles, 
etc., 288 f. 

Abraham, the ideal Hebrew, 34 f . 

Abstinence from wine, 70. 

Advocate (redeemer) of Job, 269 f. 

Anathema, 67 f . 

Angels: nature, 153 f . ; functions, 
154, 254, 256; form, 154 f. ; orders, 
254; names, 255; o,rigin of belief 
in, 155 f. 

Anthropomorphism : early preva- 
lence, 25 ff. ; overcome by the 
prophets, 97; corrected by the 
Jews, 248. 

Anthropopathism, 27 f. 

Antiochus Epiphanes, the central fig- 
ure of Daniel, 333, 334, 336, 337 f., 
340. 

Apocryphal books cited, 6. 

Ark of the Covenant: a symbol of 
Jehovah's presence, 28, 282; a 
centre of worship, 42. 

Asmodens, 262. 

Atonement: terms used, 311 ff. ; ob- 
ject affected, 812 ff. ; means em- 
ployed, 313; limits, 310 f. ; theory, 
314 ff. 

Atonement, day of, 304 it'. 

Attributes of God: moral, 114 ff. ; 
metaphysical, 120 It. 

Beasts, the four, of Daniel, 336 IV. 



Body, origin and nature of, 159 f., 

263 f. 
Bowels = seat of affections, 166. 

Centralization: rooted in early his- 
tory, 42 ; the struggle for, 178 ff . ; 
the accomplishment of, 280 ff. 

Cherubim, 148 ff. 

Circumcision : practice of, 57 ; mean- 
ing of, 33, 58 f . 

Compilation, evidence of, in the 
Hexateuch, 8. 

Covenant: a fundamental notion, 
29 f., 91 ; ground of, 30, 118 ; nature 
of, 31 ff.; duties, -33, 102, 174, 318; 
sign of, 33, 58 ; renewal of, 207 ff . ; 
the new, and the gentiles, 212 ft'. ; 
abuse of the notion of, 320. 

Covenant, book of, 36 ff. 

Creation: statements concerning, 
125 f. ; nature of, 126 f . ; biblical, 
VS. scientific doctrine, 127 ff. ; 
bearing of, on monotheism, 93. 

Daniel, Apocalypse of, 331 ff. 

David: first Hebrew hymnist, 9 ; an 
ethical ideal, 35 f . ; and the Mes- 
siah, 218 ff. 

Day of judgment: date of, 20] f., 
334, 337, 340, 342 ff.; effects of, 
203 ff. : means used, 202 !'., 206. 

Dentil, ■_'<;:; f. 

I feborah, song of, 21. 



1 Prepared by the translator. 

351 



352 



INDEXES. 



Decalogue: age of, 9, 21; contents 
of, 37 f . ; on the Sabbath, 292 f. 

Demonology, 256 ff. 

Devil, 260 f. 

Divination among the early prophets, 
16 ff., 81. 

Divine element in Scripture, 129, 
348 f. 

Documents of the Hexateuch, 3 ff. 



Ecclesiastes and Job, 324. 

Elohim : signification, 111 f . ; a fa- 
vorite name, 249. 

Ephod, 19, 28. 

Eternity of God, 121 f. 

Ethical life : Hebrew, 34 ff . ; Jewish, 
316 ff. 

Evil, moral: origin of, 196 f. ; God's 
agency in, 133. 

Evil, physical : cause of, 194 f . ; 
author of, 132; uses of, 202 ff., 
230 ff., 273 f. 

Exclusivism : germs of, 34; persist- 
ence of, 213; exaggeration of, 
320 ff. 

Exile : destructive to idolatry, 247 ; 
favorable to centralization, 180 f. ; 
productive of exclusivism, 321 f. 

Ezekiel: on the cherubim, 148; on 
the Messiah, 219; the apostle of 
Levitism, 276, 280, 285 i., 293, 300, 
303, 308 f., 313. 

Ezra, compiler of the Law, 242 f . 



Face of God, 143 f. 

Faith : an essential of Hebrew piety, 
178; decay of, 324; relation to sci- 
ence, 128 f., 345, 3491'. 

Faithfulness of God : in the name 
Jehovah, 102 f . ; relation to his 
truthfulness, 115 ; his justice, 116 ; 
his grace, 117 f. 

Faithfulness to Jehovah, 173 ff . 

Fall : details of, 193 f . ; thought of, 
187, 194 f. ; effect of, 193 f., 196. 

Fasting: early practice, 71 ff. ; on 
the day of atonement, 304 ff. 



Fear of God, 175, 329 f . 

Feasts, Pilgrim : earlier usages, 49 ff. ; 

later modifications, 300 ff . 
First-born, 63 f. 
First-fruits, 63 f. 
Forgiveness. See Atonement. 
Formalism : effect of, 317 ; opposed 

by the prophets, 319. 
Freedom, human: relation to divine 

sovereignty, 131 ff. ; to sin, 195 f. 
Future life : early notions of, 214 f . ; 

supposed traces of a doctrine, 

269 ff. ; influence of current ideas, 

234, 267 f. ; need of knowledge 

concerning, 238 f . 

Gentiles: responsible to Jehovah, 

93 f., 204 ff. ; participants in the 
new covenant, 212 ff . ; later atti- 
tude toward, 320 ff. 

Glory of God, 138 ff. 

Glossolaly, 88, 90. 

God, idea of: early notions, 21 ff . ; 
development among the prophets, 
91 ff . ; latest phases, 247 ff. 

God of hosts, 103 ff. 

Gods other than Jehovah : proofs of 
recognition of, 22 ff . ; denial of, 

94 ff., 247. 

Grace of God, 117 ff. 

Gratitude as an element of piety, 

176 f. 
Guilt of sin, 197 ff. 
Guilt offering, 308 f . 

Hagiographa, 245 f. 

Harvest, feast of. See Feast of 
Weeks. 

Head, as the seat of thought, 166 f . 

Heart, in man's life: uses of the 
term, 162 f. ; comparison with 
other organs, 164 ff . 

Heredity as applied to guilt, 200 f . 

Hexateuch: origin, 3 ff., 241 ff.: 
structure, 8. 

High-places : worship at, 40 ff . ; op- 
position to, 178 f.; abolition of, 
180 f., 280. 



INDEXES. 



353 



High-priest : age of the office, 182 f . ; 

final functions, 286 ff., 291. 
Historical sense among the Hehrews, 

7f. 
Holiness of God : meaning of, 106 ff . ; 

relation to his jealousy, etc., 109 f . ; 

propitiated hy atonement, 312 f . 
Holy One of Israel, 106 f. 
Human element in the Bihle, 345 ff. 

Ideals, ethical, 34 ff., 189 f. 

Idolatry : of the early Hehrews, 10 f ., 

28 f. ; persistence of, 82, 179 f., 186. 
Image of God, 169 ff. 
Immortality of the soul, 274 ff . 
Imperfections of Scripture, 27 f., 36 f., 

90, 128 f., 187 f., 217, 345 ff. 
Imputation, 198 ff., 230 f., 233. 
Individualism, 33. 
Inspiration : of the prophets, 83 f . ; 

in the Scriptures, 347 f . 

Jealousy of God, 109. 

Jehovah : etymology, 99 f . ; signifi- 
cation, 101 ff. 

Jeremiah: on sacrifices, 184; on the 
Messiah, 219. 

Jerusalem, the centre of humanity, 
215. 

Jesus, typified hy the Servant, 226; 
the corner-stone of the kingdom of 
God, 349. 

Joh, hook of: outline of, 236 f. ; on 
the prohlem of evil, 237 f. ; on the 
future life, 239, 269 f. ; on Satan, 
257 f. 

Josiah's reform, 180. 

Jubilee, year of, 298 f. 

Justice of God, 115 ff. 

Knowledge concerning God : an ele- 
ment of Hebrew piety, 178; denied 
by Jews, 248 f . 

Law: the earliest fragments, 36 ff., 

241 f. ; the rule of life, 187 f. ; the 
development, 242; adoption of, 

242 f. ; importance of, to the .lews, 

243 f . 



Levites: original relation to the 
priesthood, 44 ff . ; according to 
Deuteronomy, 181 ff . ; under the 
restoration, 285 ff., 289 f. 

Levitism, 276 ff . 

Likeness of God, 170. 

Literature of O. T. Theology, 3 ff. 

Logos : identified with the malakh, 
146 ; origin of doctrine of, 250. 

Lord (my), 114. 

Love of God, 119 f . 

Love as an element of piety : toward 
God, 175 f . ; toward one's neighbor, 
177 f. 

Malakh of God, 144 ff. 

Man : nature of, 159 ff . ; dignity of, 
167 ff . ; primitive condition of, 
192 ff. 

Manifestation of God, 137 ff. 

Messiah: origin of the idea of, 218; 
identity of, 218 ff.; functions of, 
222; character and qualifications, 
223 ff . ; not the Servant of deutero- 
Isaiah, 228 ; nor the son of man in 
Daniel, 338 f. 

Messianic kingdom, 334, 338, 340 ff. 

Method in Biblical Theology, 1, 344 f. 

Mighty One, 113. 

Miracles, 136 f. 

Monolatry: the early Hebrew re- 
ligion, 21 ff. ; a stage toward mono- 
theism, 92. 

Monotheism: age of, 22 ff., 92 ff . ; 
triumph of, 247. 

Mosaism, 7 ff. 

Moses : historical reality of, 9 ; work 
of, 7,9, 11,21, 30,46. 

Most-High, 113. 

Music, as a stimulus to inspiration, 15. 

Name of God, 141 f. 

Names <>f God: number and significa- 
tion, '.i'.) IT.; Elohim and Yahweh, 
249 f. 

Nature, forces of , personified, ]"><;. 

Nature: laws of, K54 f. ; restoration 
of, 210 f. 

Nazirate, 68 ff. 



354 



INDEXES. 



Nebuchadnezzar's image, 334 ff. 

Necromancy, 20. 

Nekemiah: his reforms, 278 f., 295; 

his Pharisaism, 320. 
New moon : the original festival, 48 

f. ; later development, 299 f. 

Omnipotence of God, 120 f . 
Omnipresence of God, 122 f. 
Omniscience of God, 123 f. 

Particularism. See Exclusivism. 

Passover, feast of : origin of, 50 f . ; 
union with that of unleavened 
bread, 51 f. ; laws concerning, 
52 f . ; significance of, 53 f . ; final 
modifications, 300 f . 

Patriarchs, religion of, 10. 

Pentateuch. See Hexateuch. 

Periods in Biblical Theology, 2. 

Personality of God, 96 f. 

Pharisaism, 31(5 ff. 

Philosophy, Greek, and its influence, 
218, 253, 275 f . 

Prayer, 65. 

Priesthood : original universality of, 
43 ff . ; assumption by the Levites, 
45 f . ; secured to the Levites by 
Deuteronomy, 181 ff . ; Ezekiel's 
innovations, 285 f. ; final stage of 
development, 286 ff . ; theory of, 
289 ff. 

Priests as agents of revelation, 18. 

Prophetism: in its origin, 11 ff . ; in 
its purity, 81 ff . 

Prophets: beginning from Moses, 
11 f . ; schools of, 12 ff. ; state of, 
when prophesying, 14 ff., 87 ff . ; 
sometimes also priests, 17 f.; 
means employed by, 81 f . ; attitude 
toward idolatry, 82; names ap- 
plied to, 83 ff . ; the source of their 
gifts, and authority, 84, 347 ff.; 
functions of, 85 f . ; relation of, to 
ritual, 183 ff., 276 f. ; tendency of, 
to universalism, 212 ff. 

Prophets, i.e. the second division of 
the canon, 244 f. 



Providence, 129 ff. 
Psychology, biblical, 159, 164 f . 
Purifications : variety of, 75 ; signifi- 
cance of, 75 f . 
Purim, feast of, 306. 

Ram and he-goat of Daniel, 339 f . 

Reins = heart, 166. 

Resurrection : rise of doctrine of, 
273 f . ; relation to immortality, 
275 f. 

Retribution: guaranteed by divine 
justice, 116; early theory of, 
233 f . ; later speculations concern- 
ing, 234 ff . 

Righteousness: essence of, 174 ff., 
317 ff.; relative character of, 189 ff. 

Sabbath : original notion of, 47 f . ; 
Levitical doctrine of, 292 ff . 

Sabbatical year, 296 ff . 

Sacrifices : antiquity of, 59 f., 307 f . ; 
early simplicity of, 60 f . ; notion 
of, 61 f. ; human, 62; later com- 
plexity, 307 f. ; final varieties, 308 f . 

Sages of Israel, 327 f . 

Salvation : grounds for, 207 ; partici- 
pants in, 207, 212 ff . ; conditions 
of, 207 f . ; blessings of, 209 ff . 

Samuel: greatness of, 12; connec- 
tion with schools of prophets, 12 f . ; 
a priest, 45. 

Sanctuary, the : in the desert, 281 ; 
at Jerusalem, 179, 180 f., 280; idea 
of, 281 ff. ; erroneous conceptions 
of, 283 ff . 

Satan, 258 ff. 

Scepticism, 323 ff . 

Scripture, Holy : origin of, 241 ff . ; 
authority of, 246. 

Scriptures = Hagiographa, 245. 

Seers, as compared with prophets, 83. 

Seraphim, 150 ff. 

Serpent of Eden, 260 f . 

Servant of Jehovah: identity of, 
226 ff . ; work of, 214, 228 ff. ; origin 
of idea of, 233. 

Sheol, the abode of the dead, 264 ff . 



INDEXES. 



355 



Signs as means of revelation, 19. 

Sin : forms of, 185 f . ; essence of, 
186 ff . ; extent of, 189 ff . ; origin 
of, 192 ff . ; guilt of, 197 ff . 

Sin offering, 308 f . 

Solidarity : a feature of the covenant, 
33 ; an element in theodicy, 334 f . 

Son of man in Daniel, 338. 

Soul, the spiritual principle in man : 
terms employed, 160 ff. ; actual 
conception of, 161 f . ; pre-existence 
of, 167. 

Sovereignty of God, 131 ff. 

Speculation among the Jews: with 
reference to God, 247 ff . ; the prod- 
uct of Greek philosophy, 330. 

Spirit of God: meaning of, 98 f.; in 
the prophets, 83 f., 347 ff. ; a mani- 
festation of God, 156 f . ; agent of 
creation, 126, 135; a force in 
human experience, 157 f . ; relation 
to evil, 158; a supposed hyposta- 
sis, 250. 

Spirit of man, 161 ff. 

Spirituality of God : unknown to the 
ancient Hebrews, 25, 28; grasped 
by the prophets, 97 ; nature of the 
conception, 98 f. 

Spirits, evil: early conceptions, 158; 
later ideas, 256 ff. 

Strong One, 113. 

Substitution, supposed, 315 f. 

Tabernacle: unreality of, 280; idea 
of, 281 f. 

Tabernacles, feast of: earlier cele- 
bration of, 55 f . ; later modifica- 
tions, 303 f . 

Teraphim, 28. 

Theocratic idea: origin of, 21 f . ; 
exemplified in offerings, etc., 63; 
relation to the Messianic, 209. 

Theology: foreign to the prophets, 
HI f., 98; pursued by the Jewish 
doctors, 247 f. 

Tithes: symbolism of, (;.'',; destina- 
tion of, 64 f. 

Translation of Enoch and Elijah, as 
hearing on death, 2(11. 



Tree of life, 194, 263 f. 
Trinity, supposed traces of doctrine 
of, 225, 228, 250 ff. 

Uncleanness : forms of, 73 f . ; theory 
concerning, 77 f . ; conditions re- 
lated to, 78 f . 

Unity of God, 92. 

Universalism : first traces of, 119 f . ; 
best expressions of, 212 ff., 325 f. ; 
reaction against, 320 f. 

Unleavened bread, feast of, 50 f ., 53 f . 

Urim and thummim, 17 f., 20. 

Vengeance of God, 111. 
Visions : as forms of prophecy, 87 f . ; 
as a means of revelation, 17, 89. 

Vows, 66 f. 

Watchman = prophet, 85 f . 

Weeks, feast of: early regulations 
concerning, 54 f. ; adaptation of. 
to the Levitical system, 302 f. 

Weeks, the seventy, of Daniel, 341 ff . 

Wine, abstinence from, 70. 

Wisdom: as a synonym for virtue, 
326 f . ; power of, 329 f . ; nature and 
object. 330 f. 

Wisdom of God : late origin of the 
doctrine, 124; as a hypostasis. 
250 ff . 

Woman : position of, 36, 59 ; relation 
to man, 168 f. 

Word of God : as a message to the 
prophets, 83 f., 87 ; as a manifesta- 
tion of God, 250. 

Works, merit of, 319 f. 

Worship: primitive character of, 
39 ff. ; modifications of, during the 
prophetic period, 178 ff. ; develop- 
ment of, into Levitism, 276 IT. 

Worship, places of: ancient freedom 
respecting, 39 ff.; reforms con- 
cerning, ITS IT.; reduced to one, 
280 ff. 

Wrath of (iod, 10!) f. 

Tahweh or Jehovah: signification 
of, 99 ff.; use of, 249 f. 



356 



INDEXES. 



II. AUTHORS QUOTED. 



Anger, R., 218. 

Baudissin, W. W. : Studien, I.: 23, 

24, 25, 92, 93, 94, 95, 112, 152, 261 ; 

II. : 31, 40, 10(5, 107, 138. 
Baur, Gus. : de Wette's Psalmen, 104; 

Gesch.d. A. T. Weissagung, 218. 
Beck, J. T., 104. 
Bertheau, E. : JDT., 91; Richter, 

112. 
[Bible Commentary, 70.] 
Bleek, F., 83, 88. 
Brueh, J. F., 127, 195, 327. 
Bruston, C, 224, 225. 
Budde, K., 153. 

[Cheyne, T. K., 104.] 

Colin, D. G. K. von, 2, 104, 167, 275. 

Delitzsch, F.: [Genesis, 101, 153]; 
Psalms, 104, 112; Psychology, 104. 

Diestel, L., 115, 117. 

Dillmann, A.: Genesis, 128, 129, 153; 
Exodus u. Leviticus, 37, 38, 44, 47, 
50, 51, 52, 54, 57, 58, 59, 61, 02, 64, 
68, 75, 101, 112, 146, 293, 294, 295. 

[Dods, M., 128, 129.] 

[Driver, S. R., 325.] 

Ewald H., 41, [49, 50, 58, 62, 71, 77, 78, 
306.] 

Graf, K. EL, 64, 65. 
Grimm, C. L. W., 126. 

Haag, E., 124, 259, 275. 

Havernick, H. A. C, 101, 104, 114, 

170, 199. 
Harless, G. C. A., 164. 
Hengstenberg, E. W., 87. 
Hitzig, F. : Daniel, 273; Bib. TheoL, 

112; Mes. Weissagung, 218. 
Hofmann, J. C. K. : Schriftbeweis, 

112, 170; Theologie, 104. 
Hupield, H., 104. 



Knobel, A.: Exodus u. Leviticus, 

201, 284; Prophet ismus, 158. 
Kohler, A., 91. 

Knenen, A.: Hist. Critique, 88; 
[Rel. of Israel, 30, 96, 112, 275.] 

[Lenormant, F., 129, 150, 153.] 

Maybaum, S., 13, 18, 83. 
[Montefiore, C. G., 19, 23, 92, 95, 274.] 
Miiller, J., 172. 

Nicolas, M., 2, 248, 250, 255, 256, 273, 
274, 275. 

Oenler, G. F., 2, 18, 51, 58, 59, 88, 101, 
104, 10!), 112, 113, 114, 115, 137, 142, 
146, 155, 150, 105, 107, 170, 183, 199, 

202, 225, 259, 270, 327. 

Pbilo, 87, 248. 

Reuss, E. : Geschichte d. heil. 
Schriften A. T., 11, 14, 19, 30, 47, 
50, 53, 58, 112, 120, 153, 162, 2+2, 
209,278; La Bible (misc.), 15, 19, 
50, 53, 58, 142, 140, 151, 153, 224, 
225, 270, 271, 273; Prophete, 11, 14, 
88, 104; Hist. Sainte, 47, 48,50,53, 
05, 172, 298 ; Philosophic, 209, 275, 
325; Apocalypse, 274; Theol. 
Chret., 274. 

Riebm, E. : Gesetzgebung Mosis, 
04; Mes. Prophecy, 90; Stud. u. 
Krit., 312. 

Riehm's Handworterbuch, 19. 49, 50, 
55, 58, 59, 04, 70, 71, 129, 150, 293, 
298. 

Ritscbl, A., 109. 

[Robertson,. J., 14.] 

Rotlie, R., 195. 

[Schaff-Herzog's Cyclopedia, 75, 

172.] 



INDEXES. 



357 



Schenkel's Bibel-Lexikon, 49, 50, 
51, 55, 57, 58, 70, 71, 73, 77, 100, 104, 

150, 306. 

Schrader, E. : JPT., 104; [KAT., 
47, 100.] 

Sclmltz, H., 11, [24,] 25, [40, 48, 64, 
70, 88, 93, 94,] 98, 101, [104, 106,] 
109, 112, 113, 114, [117,] 126, [127,] 
143, [146,] 150, 151, 155, [158,] 164, 
167, 170, 171, 172, 188, 196, 202, [224, 
225,] 20! >, [315,] 318. 

Srhiirer, E., 244, 343. 

Segond, L., 6,69. 

Seinecke, L., 274. 

[Smith, G. A., 224.] 

[Smith, W. R. : Old Test., 18, 19, 242 ; 
Prophets, 23, 31, 70, 91, 106.] 

[Smith's Dictionary, 20, 57, 88, 150, 

151, 284, 293.] 



Stapfer, E., 2, 248, 250, 255, 338. 
Steiner, 58. 

[Toy, C. H., 248, 250, 255, 259, 338.] 
Tholuck, F. A. G., 88. 

Umbreit, F. W. K., 193. 

Vatke, W., 19, 30, 46. 

Wellhausen, J., 18, 46, [51, 53, 55, 64,] 

65, 182, 195, 278, 281, 287, 288, 294, 

296, 298. 
Wette, W. M. L. de : Archeologie, 

62, 66, 77, 78, 104, 112, 155, 150, 107 ; 

Bib. Dogmatik, 2, 98. 
Winer's Reahvorterbuch, 20, 151, 284. 
Wittichen, C, 338. 



III. PASSAGES CITED IN THE TEXT. 



Genesis. 

PAGE 

i 126, 128 

i. 1 126 

i. 2 250 

i. 20 109, 170, 172 

i. 20 f 169 

i. 27 170 

i. 31 172 

ii. 1 104 

ii. 24 168 

iii.22 155 

vi. 1-4 150, 154, 263 

xvi. 7-12 144 

xvi. 13 144 

xviii. 14 121 

xxi. 17-19 145 

xxi. 33 122 

xxii. 11-18 145 

xxiv 06 

xxxi. 11-13 115 

xxxi. 42 112 

xxxi. 53 112 

x xxii. 'JO 01 1 

xli. 38 157 



PAGE 

xlviii. 15 f 145 

xlix. 18 270 

Exodus. 

iii. 2-0 145 

iii. 14 100 

iv. 16 85 

iv. 24-26 58 

vii. 1 85 

xii.8 r,l 

xii.21 145 

xiv. Ii) 145 

xiv. 21 f 145 

xv 53, 93, iio, 120, 170, *>81 

xv. 11 24 

xv. 13 117 

xv. 17 f 2S1 

xv. IS L22 

xix. 11 

xx. -xxiii 8, 36 

xx. 2 t 24 

xx. 5 L99 

xx. 11 127 

xx. 24 f 41 



358 



INDEXES. 



PAGE 

xxi. 6 112 

xxii. 8f 112 

xxii. 28 112 

xxiii. 19 52 

xxxi. 12-17 281 

xxxii. 4 29 

xxxiii. 4 f 29 

xxxiii. 14-16 143 

xxxiii. 19 118, 119 

xxxiv 8 

xxxiv. 5 f 102, 118, 119 

xxxiv. 11-26 36 

xxxiv. 26 52 

Leviticus. 

i.-vii 308 

xvi 288,305 

xvii 180 

xvii.-xxvi. 5 177, 277, 280 

xvii. 11 314,315 

xviii. -xx 277 

xxiii 54 

xxiii. 9 ff 52 

xxiii. 9-14 50 

xxiii. 10 54 

xxiv. 16 249 

xxvii. 28 68 

Numbers. 

iv. 25-27 144 

vi 69 

vi. 6 ff 69 

viii. 5,22 290 

xii. 6-8 88, 89,90 

xv. 27-31 310 

xxii. 22 258 

xxii. 32 258 

xxv. 19 115 

Deuteronomy. 

iv. 31 119 

iv. 37 143 

v 36, 128 

vi. 15 110 

vii. 9 102, 118 

xv. 21 64 

xvi. 9 50 



PAGE 

xviii. 15 220 

xviii. 18 220 

xx. 6 71 

xxi. 9 181 

xxi. 25 181 

xxiii. 12 f 76 

xxviii. 30 71 

xxx. 15-20 131 

xxxii 94, 102, 121 

xxxii. 3 102 

xxxii. 4 115 

xxxii. 8 256 

xxxii. 16 110 

xxxii. 22 ff 110 

xxxii. 43 311 

xxxiii. 2 153 

xxxiii. 8 18 

Joshua. 
v. 13-15 254 

Judges. 

ii. Iff 145 

v 120, 176 

v. 8 112 

vi. 7 ff 11 

vi. 11-16 145 

vi. 20-24 145 

vii. 13 f 17 

ix. 9 155 

ix. 13 155 

ix. 23 158 

xxi. 19 ff 55 

1 Samuel. 

ii 121 

ii. 25 112 

ii. 27 ff 11,46 

x.5 14,15 

xv. 22 183, 184 

xvii. 45 105 

xix. 20 ff 14 

xxiii. 9 ff 19 

xxv. 37 162 

xxviii • ■ 20 

xxviii. 6 17 

xxx. 7f 19 



INDEXES. 



359 



2 Samuel. 



vi 

vii. 27-24). 
xv. 24. . . . 
xxii. 11.. . 
xxiv. 1... 



PAGE 

..289 
..115 
..182 
..147 
..260 



1 Kings. 

ii. 3 142 

iii. 5 ff 17 

viii. 4 182 

xii. 16 220 

xiii. 18 254 

xxii. 19-23 257 

2 Kings. 

iii. 15 15 

xiv. 6 242 

xxi. 8 242 

xxii. f 



2V. 



xxiii 180 

xxiii. 9 286 

xxiii. 21 ff 301 

1 Chronicles. 

xv 289 

xxi. 1 259 

xxi. 18 254 

2 Chronicles. 

v. 5 182 

xii. 5-7 117 

xxxv 301 



Esther. 



ix. 17-32. 



,306 



Job. 

i.-ii 257, 258 

iv. 18 153 

xii. 10 161 

xvi. 19-22 2(59 

xix. 25-27 269 

xxviii. 12 If 251 

xx vi i i . 23 if 25 1 

xxxiii. 2:; 163 

xxxviii. 7 155 



Psalms. 

page 

viii 170, 171 

xvi. 10 f 271 

xviii 150 

xviii. 10 14.7 

xxi. 9 143 

xxxii 191 

xxxii. 11 191 

xxxiii. 6 250 

xlix. 15 271, 272 

lxxiii. 24-26 272 

lxxviii. 58 f no 

lxxxii. 6 H2 

lxxxix H5, 118 

xci. 11 153 

ciii. 20 153 

civ. 29 159 

cxlvii. 15 250 

cxlviii. 2 153 

Proverbs. 

i.-ix 5 

viii. 22 ff 125, 251 

x. 1-xxii. 16 5 

x. 7 



270 

270 

270 

312 

312 

xxv. - xxix 5 



xiv. 32. 
xv. 24. . 

xvi. 6. . 
xvi. 14. 



Isaiah. 



i.-xii. 
vi. 1-7. 
ix 



. 3 
150 
221 



ix. 6 f 223 

ix. 7 220 

xiii. 1-xiv. 23 4 

xiv. 24-M2 3 

xv. 1-xvi. 12 3 

xvii.-xx 3 

xxi. 1-10 4 

xxi. ll-xx'i : . IS 3 

xxiv.-xxvii 4 

xxvi. 19 27:; 

xxviii. -xxxiii 3 

x x x i \ . f 4 

xxxvii. 21-35 4 

xxxviii. 9-20 4 



360 



INDEXES. 



PAGE 

xl. -Ixvi 4 

xli. 8 ff 226 

xlii. 1-7 226 

xlii. 18 ff 226 

xliii.1-10 226 

xliv. 1 f 226 

xliv. 21-26 226 

xlv. 4 '. 226 

xlviii. 1(5 250 

xlviii. 20 226 

xlix. 1-9 226 

1.4-10 226 

lii. 13-15 230 

lii. 13-liii. 12 226,230 

liii 227, 232,236 

liii.7 230 

lv. 11 250 

lxiii. 10 250 

lxv.8-10 231 

Jeremiah. 

vi. 27 86 

vii. 22 f 184 

xxxiii. 6 225 

xxxiii.18 181 

xxxiii. 21 f 181 

1.— lii 4 

Lamentations. 
iv. 16 143 

EZEKIEL. 

i 148 

iii. 17 86 

x 148 

xxy. 14 Ill 

xxv. 17 Ill 

xxxiii. 7 86 

xxxviii. 18-23 109 

xlv. 25 56 

Daniel. 

ii 334 

vii 336 

vii. 25 338 

viii 339 

ix 341 

ix. 25 342 

ix. 26 342 



PAGE 

x 332 

xi 332 

xii. 2 f 272 

xii. 7 338 

Hosea. 

ii. 19 118 

iii. 5 222 

viii. 12 242 

xii. 9 55 

Micah. 

v 221 

v. 7-9 213 

v. 9 213 

Nahum. 
i. 2 Ill 

Zechariah. 

i.-viii 4 

iii. 1 259 

iv. 9 221 

ix.-xi 3 

ix 221 

ix.9 222 

ix. 9f 220 

xii.-xiv 4, 220 

xii. 8 145, 225 

xiv. 16-19 56 

1 Maccabees. 

iii. 49 69 

2 Maccabees. 

ii. 13 245 

iv.34 342 

vii. 28 126 

SlRACH. 

xliv. -xlix 245 

Wisdom. 
ii. 23 f 262 

Acts. 
xxi. 23 f 69 

1 Corinthians. 
xiv 90 



INDEXES. 



361 



IV. HEBREW TERMS. 



acharith-hayyamim (the latter days), 

202. 
Adhon (Lord), 114. 
Adhonay (my Lord), 114, 249. 
asham {be guilty), 197. 
Attah-El-rol (Thou God seest me), 

145. 
Azazel, 261. 

bene-Elohim (sons of God), 155. 

chayyah (living), 160. 
chesedh (grace), 117. 

ehyeh (Lam), 100. 

ift (God), 113, 120. 

elilim (worthless) , 95. 

Elohim (God), 103, 111 f., 155, 249. 

eft/on (highest), 113. 

hawah, hay ah (be), 100. 

kaphar (cover), 311. 
kasah (cover), 312. 

tefc/i, lebhabh (heart), 162. 

malakh (angel), 144 f., 153 1"., 258. 
minchah (gift), 61. 



nabhi (prophet), 83. 
nazir (consecrated) , 69. 
nephesh (soul), 160 f., 165, 167. 
neshamah (breath), 162. 

oZam (eternity), 122. 

pesach (passover), 51. 

qadhesh (be holy) , 108. 
qadhosh (hohj), 69, 106. 
qorban (gift),Ql, 316. 

rwac/i (spirit), 161, 167, 257. 

sata?? (adversary) , 258. 
saraph (seraph), 151. 
sebhaoth (hosts), 103 ff. 
se'irim (satyrs), 261. 
shadday (almighty), 113, 120, 
shedhim (demons), 261. 
s/ieoZ (Hades), 266 f. 
sidheqoth (righteous deeds), 117. 

?om// (instruction), 241. 

Yahiveh (Jehovah), 100, 249 f. 



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THE UNITED STATES." By William A. Scott, Ph.D., 
Assistant Professor of Political Economy in the University of Wisconsin. 
This is a work which deals with one of the most important phases of 
American finance. Perhaps there is no field of financial investigation in 
the United States which has been so neglected. The work will be of 
practical importance to all those who are concerned with investments, as 
well as to scholars interested in our financial history and institutions. 

The editor of the series promises two volumes. One on Socialism, 
which will be considered descriptively and critically. The work will be 
divided into four parts: Part One treating of the Nature of Socialism, 
Part Two of the Strength of Socialism, Part Three of the Weakness of 
Socialism, and Part Four, the Golden Mean, or Practicable Social Reform. 
The other volume which the editor will contribute, will be called " Sug- 
gestions on Social Topics," dealing with social classes, legal inequality, 
labor organizations, the eight-hour day, the widening and deepening range 
of ethical obligation, etc. 

ALBERT Shaw, Ph.D., American Editor of the " Review of Reviews," 
is engaged in the preparation of a work suitable for the scries, the title 
of which will be announced subsequently. The publishers, however, 
venture to assure the public that the work by Dr. SHAW will be one of 
the most popular and useful volumes in the series. 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., NEV ^?£?N? nd 

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IriPORTANT Historical Works. 



THE FOUNDING OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 

Based chiefly upon Prussian State Documents, by HkinkIch von Sybel. Trans, 
lated by Marshall Livingston Perrin, assisted by Gamaliel Bradford, Jr. Completed 
in 5 vols. Cloth, per set, $10.00; half mor., $20.00. 

"No more important historical work has appeared in the last decade." <— Nation. 

" Impossible to praise too highly." — Chicago Standard. 

" A triumph of historical description." — Detroit Free Press. 

A HISTORY OF FRANCE. 

By Victor Duruy, member of the French Academy. Abridged and translated 
from the seventeenth French edition, by Mrs. M. Carey, with an introductory notice 
and a continuation to the year 1S90, by J. Franklin Jameson, Ph.D., Professor of 
History in Brown University. With 12 engraved colored maps. In one volume. 
i2mo. Cloth, $2.00. Half calf, $4.00. 

" Of all the short summaries of French History, this is probably the best." — Ex- 
Preside?it Andrew D. White, Cornell University. 

A book widely desired by schools, colleges and libraries, students and general 
readers. 

MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 

By Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, his Private Secretary. Edited 
by Col. R. W. Phipps. New and revised edition, with 34 full-page portraits and 
other illustrations. 4 vols. 121110. Cloth, plain, $5.00. Cloth, gilt top, paper label, 
$6.00. Half calf, $12.00. Limited edition with over 100 illustrations, gilt top, halt 
leather, $10.00. The latest American edition, and the only one with a complete index. 

" If you want something to read both interesting and amusing, get the ' Memoires 
de Bourrienne.' These are the only authentic memoirs of Napoleon which have as 
yet appeared." — Prince Metternich. 

RECOLLECTIONS OF A PRIVATE. 

A Story of the Army of the Potomac. By Warren Lee Goss, author of "Jed." 
With over So illustrations by Chapin and Shelton. Royal 8vo., cloth, $3.00. Sea? 
russia, $4.00. Half morocco, $5.00. 

" No volume of war history has given the reader more graphic descriptions of 
army life." — Inter Ocean. 

" One of the handsomest as well as one of the most valuable works in American 
war literature." — Boston Globe. 

HER MAJESTY'S TOWER. 

By W. Hepworth Dixon. New edition, complete in one volume. A history of 
the Tower of London, from the seventh London edition, with 47 illustrations. Royal 
i2mo. Cloth, $2.00. Half calf, $4.00. The result of twenty years' research. 

"The best possible introduction a stranger can have to that famous building." — 
Christian Union. 

THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN COIGNET, 

SOLDIER OF THE EMPIRE, 1776-1850. 

An autobiographical account of one of Napoleon's Body-Guard. Fully illustrated. 
;2mo., half leather, $2.50. Half calf, $5.00. 

" It is meagre nraise to sav that it is interesting. It is more than that. It is a 
panorama." — Minneapolis journal. 

"As direct as Robinson Crusoe, vived almost beyond expression. —Boston 
Herald. 



For sale by all Booksellers. Catalogues sent free upon application 

T. Y. CROWELL& CO., New York # Boston. 

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